The Adventures of Syrila T'Soni
by FasterGhost
Summary: Living a thousand years is a long time and a lot of memories... Here, Syrila T'Soni (Liara's aunt) is sharing the adventures of her long life with Shepard, Liara, and their friends... The story is narrated in post-reaper time interspersed with flashbacks into the past.
1. Prologue

_A/N: This story will contain various snippets from the life of Syrila T'Soni – an OC that I introduced in the "Strange guest" story. She is Benezia's sister, Liara's aunt and for the most of her life, she suffered from a medical condition…_

_I do not aim at any specific ending. The chapters will be posted as they come to me and will not necessarily be in chronological order. If you haven't read the "Strange guest" yet, I recommend that you do before trying to read this one._

_As always, reviews are welcome._

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><p><strong>Thessia, 2196 CE<strong>

Liara looked around the room where the attending asari were chatting. The official ceremony was now over and the setting was much more casual.

To an outside observe, the gathering might seem like an ordinary party but was in fact a funeral feast – thrown in honor of the late Matriarch _Laya Navis_ who died only a week ago. The matriarch was well over thousand years old when she passed away. In fact, she might have been one of the oldest asari left on Thessia after the reaper war.

However, despite this fact, very few people knew her. The Navis family was neither ancient nor rich like the T'Sonis or in any way famous. Most of the asari inside the room were either family or close friends.

It was for this reason that Liara felt somewhat as an outsider among them. She was sad to admit that she did not know Laya Navis at all. The only reason she was here was to be a moral support for her recently rediscovered aunt – _Syrila T'Soni_.

Syrila herself was talking with the other guests earlier but was now standing next to Liara and trying her best to blend in. Normally, she had no trouble in acting her way through any situation, but this day, she was not acting at all. This day, she was genuinely, without any disguise, Syrila T'Soni…

"Dr. T'Soni…" one of the asari approached Liara. It was Laya's only daughter – _Erena Navis_.

"Dr. T'soni" she repeated as she fought her way through the crowd over to Liara.

"Again, I want to express how happy I am that you decided to honor the memory of my mother today…" Erena said and hugged Liara in traditional asari fashion, followed by a kiss on a cheek.

"I am honored to be received in your home, Matriarch…" Liara answered politely.

"Please, it is just Erena to you…" the older asari insisted.

"Only if you call me Liara, then" she smiled at her in return.

Erena was a few decades into being a matriarch herself. She was Laya's only child but she also had four daughters during her life. Two of those had children of their own now, making Laya Navis a great grandparent by the time of her death.

Adding in the partners of the family members and Laya's friends and the room was quite packed with people.

When Liara first walked inside, everyone was looking at her in disbelieve. Despite being more than half a millennium younger than Erena Navis, the older asari would welcome and treat her almost like a royalty. A common event for her these days that she very much loathed…

In a hindsight, Liara supposed that it was probably for the best that Shepard did not come here with her tonight… the presence of _both_ of the publically acclaimed heroes of the Reaper war would have totally stolen the attention away from the ceremony.

"Are you that surprised? You are probably the most exciting thing ever to walk into her home!" her aunt said to her earlier when she saw Liara's slightly brooding expression.

"Dr T'Soni… _Liara_, please, if I may be so bold… we are all very anxious to hear how you knew my mother?" Erena asked her the question that she no doubt was very curious to know the answer to ever since she saw Liara in here.

Liara looked at her with sympathy. "I am saddened to admit that I did not know her personally…" she said and looked at Syrila, inviting her into the conversation. "However, my… _friend_, knew your mother very well. Tonight, I am here with her"

"Oh?" Erena's eyes flicked between them. "You know Syrila?" she suddenly asked, looking at Liara's aunt.

Had Liara been drinking something at that moment, she would be spitting and choking now. Fortunately, she was not drinking anything and so she managed to cover her shock at hearing Syrila's name spoken out loud.

"I did not realize you two have been introduced…" Liara eventually said.

Even though the Ardat-Yakshi condition was cured years ago, she was not aware that her aunt was using her real name publically again. Having lived a life of secrecy, Syrila was more comfortable in anonymity than anywhere else. As a consequence, she so far refused Liara's offers to have her name and standing officially restored.

"Syrila had been visiting my mother for the past few years..." Erena clarified and turned to Syrila. "From what mother told me, you were old friends with her?" she asked and Syrila nodded sadly.

"Then I want to thank you…I happen to know that my mother loved your visits very much"

Liara saw Syrila's downcast expression and she put her hand on her aunt's back to comfort and cheer her up.

"But how do _you two_ know each other?" Erena asked again, seeing the two asari supporting each other emotionally.

Liara looked at Syrila for a moment, wordlessly inquiring on what to say.

"You can tell her the truth, Liara. It is time I stepped out of the shadows… permanently" Syrila said resolutely.

Erena looked at them in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Liara smiled. She was glad that her aunt was finally embracing her family heritage again.

"Erena Navis, may I introduce Syrila _T'Soni_, sister to my mother and my aunt…"

It would be Erena's turn to spit and choke but she was not drinking anything either.

"You… how? You are T'Soni too? A sister of Matriarch Benezia?" she asked in awed and almost fearful voice.

"I am" Syrila solemnly confirmed with a nod.

"Oh, goddess…" Erena whispered before she made a curtsey to Syrila. "I did not realize! Please welcome to our home, esteemed Matriarch…"

"Please don't…" Syrila said to her gently. "You were always very nice to me and I do not want you to treat me any differently than before"

"I am sorry, Syrila" Erena apologized bashfully. "I just had no idea who you truly were and I feel completely silly right now for not welcoming you properly before"

"You don't have to feel silly… up until recently, nobody knew of my true identity. I have been living undercover for over a millennium" Syrila said, sharing a knowing look with Liara.

"But why?" Erena asked, completely puzzled.

"This is going to be more than awkward, but here it goes..." Syrila drew breath. "I am an Ardat-Yakshi… have been for my entire life"

To her credit, Erena did not even flinch after hearing the name of the condition that the asari people feared for most of their recorded history. A few decades ago, she would no doubt run away screaming in horror, but now?

Thanks to Liara's efforts, there was finally a cure and all the Ardat-Yakshi were vindicated and free to rejoin their people again.

"But why didn't you… I see" Erena said as the understanding came to her. The stories of Ardat-Yakshi managing to stay hidden for centuries were a common occurrence after the cure's discovery.

She then looked thoughtful for a moment.

"_Laya_… my mother. She knew who you were, didn't she?" she asked.

"Yes, your mother was one of the few persons left in the universe who knew the full truth about me" Syrila confirmed her suspicion.

Erena looked like she was going to faint. "I think I need to sit down…"

Liara and Syrila helped her to a nearby sofa and they all sat down.

"It all makes sense now" Erena eventually said as she grabbed a drink from the coffee table and took a big swing.

"I remember that mother was so happy when the Ardat-Yakshi cure was discovered… when _**you**_ discovered it" she looked meaningfully at Liara who tried to appear modest as best as she could.

"I did not understand why she was so emotional about it but it must have been because of you, Syrila"

Syrila lowered her eyes. "She meant a lot to me…"

"That's not all…" Erena continued. "I admit that like most asari, my mind was still clouded at that time…" she said with a shame clearly displayed on her face. "I did not speak nice things about the Ardat-Yakshi that day…"

"It's alright…" Syrila quickly said.

Erena laughed. "My mother certainly did not think it was alright. She said I was a prejudiced fool…"

"And then she told me something that I did not understand at the time, but I am beginning to now"

She looked at Syrila. "She said that an Ardat-Yakshi saved our family during the Reaper war… she spoke of you, didn't she?"

Syrila looked at her in puzzlement for a while before she realized what Laya was probably referring to.

"I might have been the one to pay the eclipse mercs who evacuated you from Thessia before the reapers landed" Syrila reluctantly admitted.

"Oh, goddess! Then you have saved my entire family!" Erena exclaimed.

Syrila tried to downplay her role, but it was too late. Very soon, Erena called her daughters over to introduce them to the person who saved them during the war. Syrila became a target for an endless barrage of hugs and kisses. One of the asari put an asari baby – Laya's youngest great granddaughter – into her arms and thanked her heartily for saving her child. By the end of the whole ordeal, tears were streaming down Syrila's cheeks.

Seeing Syrila surrounded by so many people whose lives she touched, Liara felt incredibly proud of her aunt.

"Tell us, how you met grandmother! Please!" one of Erena's daughters enthusiastically called.

Suddenly all eyes were fixed on Syrila who futilely tried to refuse. A wave of "Please!" echoed among the asari gathered around them.

"Very well…" Syrila finally conceded, much to everyone's happiness.

"Laya Navis cared for me during the period of my life that was most difficult. Her wisdom is the reason I am here with you today… she saved my life more than once, be it with words or actions"

Syrila smiled as she immersed herself in memories.


	2. Hyetiana I

**Hyetiana, 1207 CE**

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><p>Syrila was looking out of the window of her home. <em>Her new home<em>. It has been five years since she was diagnosed as an Ardat-Yakshi – something she always believed was just a scary story.

Asari like her were usually confined inside special monasteries for the rest of their lives. No possibility of release. Asari people feared the Ardat-Yakshi greatly and were willing to do anything to keep them out of their society. If one didn't want to go to the monastery or chose to run away, she was hunted down and killed.

There was an order of asari warriors that specialized in handling people like her. Syrila always shivered when she thought of the _Justicars_. Every Ardat-Yakshi was just a disease to be purged in their eyes. Under common circumstances, Syrila's fate would have been sealed. Fortunately, her family was anything but common…

_Syrila T'Soni_ – daughter of the current main line of the T'Soni family – one of the oldest, richest and most powerful families on Thessia. After her condition was diagnosed, her family's influence allowed her a third choice besides imprisonment or death – _exile_.

Her name was erased from T'Soni's family tree and she had to leave Thessia. Still, her mother, the current matriarch of the T'Soni family, would not leave her youngest daughter to the wolves.

Syrila was set up on the Hyetiana – the ice planet. One of the newest asari colonies.

Through shell companies, a remote but sizable real estate was purchased for her and a beautiful house built. The official cover story was that the place was purchased by several large companies to serve as a location of wild corporate retreats.

In addition, secret trust funds were set up for Syrila that would comfortably secure her for at least three of asari lifetimes.

In return, she had to promise her mother that she would remain on Hyetiana until told otherwise.

Syrila suspected that "_until told otherwise_" may very well last for the rest of her life, but she trusted her mother's wisdom… most of the time.

Initially, when her exile began, she feared that she would soon be bored out of her mind. However, she was very far from the truth…

Her mother hired the best teachers for her and every day, Syrila would spend many hours being tutored by them over the extranet.

In addition, one month of every year, few of the most trusted T'Soni acolytes would come to Hyetiana for her physical training. Syrila was taught how to fight, both with her hands, biotics and weapons. Her training was getting more and more intensive over the years and recently, it also included survival courses in Hyetiana's wilderness.

She initially feared that her family would simply confine her to the ice planet and forget all about her. However, given her rigorous and expensive training, she knew that that wasn't the case.

"_If mother had no plan for me… if I was to remain in this ice hell forever… why would she invest in me so much?_" Syrila always thought. When she questioned her mother on this, she always got the same answer.

"_I will not be here forever, Syrila. One day it will be just you and your sisters. But while they will have their own acolytes one day, you need to know how to take care of yourself alone. How to survive. And you __**will **__survive. You are my daughter and you will survive"_

To prove her words, her mother did something totally unexpected. She hired Padrik Solus – a salarian who was universally acclaimed as the best teacher of his generation. He specialized on asari and all of his former students later went on to achieve great things in the following centuries. He was already long retired with only few years left when Syrila's mother hired him.

He agreed to sign a non-disclosure agreement and to spend the rest of his days on Hyetiana, tutoring young Syrila. He was regularly teaching her for nearly two years before one day, he passed away peacefully in his sleep.

It was only after many decades later, during the war, when Syrila realized just how much "the old salarian" truly influenced her mind.

After Padrik died, the only other person regularly staying with her in the house was Laya Navis – over two centuries old asari maiden who served as her governess ever since Syrila was twelve years old. When Syrila went into her forced exile on Hyetiana, Laya was the only one from her old life who was allowed to come with her.

As Syrila looked onto the sky, the Hyetiana's sun was still high-above the horizon. It was the planet's summer solstice this day and the day would be long.

She sighed. Looking at the sky always made her miss Thessia most of all. Even during the day, the Hyetiana's sun just looked noticeably different from Parnitha.

Syrila heard knocking and then the door creaked behind her.

"Syrila… I am going to bed. Do you need anything else today?" Laya asked, sticking her head through the door.

"No, thank you. Sleep well" Syrila answered her, barely glancing back away from the window. Laya sighed. "Don't stay up too late…" she said and closed the door behind her.

Laya knew what it was doing to Syrila when she was watching the sky. Initially, she would berate the young maiden for it. Calling it "pointless self-torture".

But Syrila would not listen to her. It helped her to think about her life.

As she looked at the sky, she would reminisce about the day when she was told what she was and what it would mean to her in the future…

There were no hysterical scenes, no screaming, no tears. Everyone was level headed and knew what needed to be done.

Syrila trusted her mother even as the older asari completely rewrote the course of her future life.

"_At least I will have a life…"_ she thought. While she still had to leave her home behind, the alternative was much more terrifying – being locked inside a monastery and making marmalade for a thousand years was just unacceptable to her.

She supposed that in a way, many would envy her life. She had a lot of money to get anything she ever desired and no parents around to tell her what to do. Plus she was getting the best education in the galaxy.

But in the end, she was alone…

Loneliness. That was something she was struggling with for several months now.

No matter how disciplined she became, she was still young asari. She needed to speak… to be with other people of her own age. At least for a while… and she would do it tonight.

Syrila waited for an hour to make sure that Laya was asleep. After that, she dressed herself and quietly slipped out of the house…

* * *

><p>It was the peak of a summer in this part of Hyetiana – not that "summer" was much speak of around here. Basically, it meant that one would not freeze to death even while outside during the night.<p>

Syrila silently pulled her personal snowmobile away from the house. She nervously glanced behind at Laya's window several times before she finally disappeared behind small hill.

Leaving the house far behind, she mounted the snowmobile and activated its engine. She put on a pair of sunglasses on her face to protect her eyes from the harsh light of the Hyetiana's sun which was now very low over the horizon and casting ever longer shades over the ice world.

Syrila moved her hand to the accelerator, but then she stopped, doubts gnawing at her again.

"_Am I making a mistake?"_ she thought with a profound sense of foreboding. She almost shut down the engine again… but then she shrugged off her doubts and steeled her resolve. She released the brakes and the vehicle launched forward, taking the young asari to her destination in a nearby city.

As the snow covered landscape flew around her, she thought about where she was going – _the annual celebration of Summer Solstice_.

Unlike most species in the galaxy, the asari originally did not celebrate the solstices. However, the date had a special meaning to the colonists on Hyetiana – except a small band around the equator, it was a world of ever lasting winter. As such, the time around summer solstices was a period of highest economical and social activity on both hemispheres.

For example, any sort of massive construction work was feasible only during the short summer. New buildings would be built and if they suffered any damage from the winter, the Hyetianans would repair their homes at this time.

Partial melting of ice caps allowed extraction of ores and minerals which were otherwise inaccessible for the rest of the year. Since agriculture was difficult at best and most of the food had to be imported, the mineral mining provided a much needed boost to the planet's economy.

However, the main income for the inhabitants came from tourism and from leasing the planet's sizable and mostly secluded real estate to corporations and research institutions.

Even nature itself was a sight to behold in the summer. Fast-growing vegetation would spring from the ground, blooming and releasing its resilient seeds and thus securing their existence in the next summer. After that, almost all of it would die again only to be reborn next year in a never ending cycle.

The life was difficult in the constant cold and planet was still relatively sparsely inhabited, especially in winter months. In fact, many people owned homes on both north and south hemispheres and regularly migrated between them to avoid the harshest winters.

The city where Syrila was headed would be quite empty in few months but right now, it was bustling with people. Many offworlders came to Hyetiana for the summer celebrations. On the night of the solstice, wild parties would be held there and it was party like this where Syrila was currently headed.

Just few years before being diagnosed as Ardat-Yakshi, Syrila began to visit clubs and social gatherings on Thessia. At first, she was reluctantly dragged there by her wild older sister – _Atala_. However, she eventually came to enjoy them… just another thing she now missed from her old life.

Syrila missed other people. She missed talking to them, sharing their life or just dancing the night away…

Her mother insisted that she isolated herself on the ice planet for her own safety as well as the others. Syrila mostly agreed with her. She did not want to hurt anyone.

They told her that as an Ardat-Yakshi, she would be compelled to meld… that it was dangerous for her to be with other people until she grew up and learned how to control herself better.

However, in this case, Syrila just _**knew**_ that they were wrong about her. She wasn't a slave to her urges. In fact, she never felt any large desire to meld with anyone before and after learning what it would mean for her partner, she was outright repulsed by the idea. Her condition was not commutable and unless in melding, it was no danger to anyone…

"_I am not some sex-crazed freak. I can do this! I can have fun, meet some friends and then go home… nobody will be hurt!"_ she thought confidently as she parked her snowmobile in front of a local culture centre where one of the bigger celebrations was being held.

Syrila could hear the music pulsing inside. There was a small crowd standing outside the building. She grew nervous… it has been too long that she was around so many people.

"Nice machine!" one of the random asari coming from the parking lot called to her, pointing at her snowmobile and smiling before she went inside the club.

"Thanks" Syrila answered uncertainly.

For the first time in many years, a complete stranger gave her a casual compliment. It felt strangely good… almost normal. She did not realize just how much she missed simple social interactions like this.

Remembering where she parked, she went inside the building.

The first thing anyone did when entering building on Hyetiana was to check in their winter gear. Syrila went to a dressing room and looked for a free locker. When she found one, she took of her glasses, gloves, coat and thermal pants and locked them all inside. She also changed her arctic shoes into a pair of more fashionable ones that she carried with her inside her coat.

Syrila went to a nearby mirror and checked herself out. The get-up she was wearing was the last social dress that her mother bought her back on Thessia – green with white stripe in the middle and on her back. It did not expose much flesh, but it hugged her well developed curves snugly.

"_Killer dress, sis!"_ Atala would say to her when she first wore it.

Syrila hoped that there wasn't a radical fashion shift within last five years or she was going to look very much out of place.

As she entered the main room and gazed on the swarm of the dancing asari, she was relieved to see that they were wearing similar dresses as she was.

She gasped at the sight which was very rare on Hyetiana and even rarer to her eyes these days – scantily clad asari dancing to the beat of the music.

For a minute she had an irrational fear that everyone would immediately see her for what she was. She imagined the music dramatically stopping, the crowd turning to look at her and shouting _"Demon!"_ or worse… she was pleasantly surprised when all she got were few casual glances from a people coming through nearby.

Syrila looked around but could not see many aliens. There were not a lot of aliens living on Hyetiana to begin with. The cold climate, while tolerable to the worm blooded asari was not popular with the other species.

Salarians and Krogan were both cold blooded and from very warm homeworlds and so they hated the ice planet. While there were many salarian scientists working in the labs world wide, they mostly kept to the closed and well heated habitats.

As for the other species, the gigantic Elcor were still a rare sight, even on the Citadel, and the aquatic Hanar instinctively avoided frozen water as it symbolized stillness and death in their culture.

Surprisingly, the Volus were one of the few who commonly lived on Hyetiana. Being forced to rely on full body pressure suits anyway, they did not mind the cold climate as simple addition of heating system inside their suits made it fully comfortable for them.

Syrila could see few of them dancing with their asari partners. They looked funny to some people as they waved their small arms wildly in the air, but Syrila had to admire their spirit. She giggled as one of the wilder and probably drunker Voluses kept rolling his spherical body around the dancing area, much to the embarrassment of his asari girlfriend.

Syrila felt another pang of regret when she remembered that the last time she was at a party like this, her sister was with her. She quickly banished the bad thoughts and headed to the bar. She ordered a drink called _Rusty grass_ – it was one of the few agriculture commodities locally produced on Hyetiana.

The name referred to the rusty color of the last summer's grass which remained under the ice during the winter under ice and was harvested and fermented to produce the drink as soon as the ice melted in the next summer and before the old grass began to rot. It was only mildly alcoholic and Syrila was carefully drinking it in small sips – she could not risk getting drunk too much and only wanted to get into the mood. Very soon, she felt herself relaxing. The music was great and she started to really get into the spirit of the place.

Given the natural curiosity of the asari, it was not long before a young asari approached her at the bar and started to chat with her. Syrila was delighted to finally have a conversation with people roughly her age again, even if it was at a noisy party and half of the conversation was almost inaudible.

Syrila was also delighted to realize that a thought of melding did not cross her mind even once. She was fully in control of her desires.

"_I can do this…I can easily control myself. Mother was wrong."_

However, very soon Syrila discovered a slight hurdle in her plans. Given her secret existence, she could not afford to use her own name! She regretted the need to give this young, friendly asari a fake name, but it was a necessary evil. Nobody could know who she really was… ever.

She kept purposefully driving the conversation away from her personal life so she would not have to outright lie into her face… and it worked, soon the asari picked up the message and stopped her prodding into Syrila's background. Instead, they chatted about fashion, music, sports and various local and galactic events.

Soon more asari joined them at the bar and Syrila found herself in a gaggle of asari maidens. Honest laughter echoed around their little group.

Syrila was very happy at that moment. Being alone always reminded her of her condition – what she was and what she could never be as a result. But here, she was nobody special. Just a young asari maiden having fun… it felt normal and good.

Later on, their little group collectively decided to hit the dance floor. Earlier this evening, Syrila would have been nervous about dancing in a club after so many years, but now that she was part of a crowd, she felt confident again.

They all began to dance to the rhythm of the music. Like almost everything the asari did, even their dancing was deeply sensual and provocative. Syrila felt little overwhelmed at seeing the amount of exposed blue flesh that was swaying around her in painfully erotic fashion.

"_I can do this… just focus on the dancing"_ she though, trying to suppress dangerous thoughts, that she was very much dreading, away from her mind.

She closed her eyes and lost herself to the flow of the music. Her body followed it closely and her mind was calm.

It all worked perfectly… until she felt one of the asari placing her hands of Syrila's hips, matching her body's movements.

With her concentration disrupted, Syrila opened her eyes and was surprised and nervous to see the group of young asari formed a dancing circle around her. There was something strange in their eyes that Syrila could not identify. She was even more confused when some of them frowned at their bold colleague who made the move and was now touching Syrila's dancing form.

Syrila shivered under the asari's touch, but she had to admit it felt pleasant to be close to her like this. The other asari was very beautiful.

"_Oh, goddess… have I made a mistake?"_ Syrila thought in fear.

The other asari leaned in to embrace her. "You are very beautiful…" she whispered and Syrila finally realized what she saw in her eyes.

_Desire._ Pure unadulterated desire.

Meanwhile the other asari were eyeing her with what could only be described as _jealousy_ as she leaned closer to Syrila in order to kiss her.

"_Goddess, no! What is happening? I have to stop this!"_ she cried out mentally. She wanted to run, but the other asari held her firmly and just before Syrila could move away from her, she leaned in to kiss her.

Their lips barely brushed together when suddenly a yet another figure casually waltzed inside their little circle.

An older looking, but very beautiful asari – a late maiden or perhaps even a matron. Syrila could not see the details of her face very clearly in the semi-darkness of the club, but she knew that she was beautiful.

This asari moved closer to them, eyeing both Syrila and her current partner.

She then licked her lips as she looked at Syrila with predatory gaze, making the young Ardat-Yakshi gulp down. Then she made a gentle but clear body language gesture at Syrila's partner – "_scram away child, this one is mine."_

Her current partner stared at the intruder in defiance and for a moment, Syrila thought that they were actually going to fight…however, the younger asari eventually backed down.

Both evolutionary and social pressure made the long-lived asari inherently obedient towards their elders. As a result, even though it was clear that all the asari in their dance circle wanted to throw themselves at Syrila, they still instinctively backed down when an obviously much older and mature rival moved in.

Syrila breathed out both in relief and, as she had to admit, frustration. The touch of the asari was still burning on her hips… the kiss they shared leaving ghostly sensations on Syrila's lips.

Still, she knew very well that she needed to get out of this situation. She started to turn around in order to go away from the dance floor and back to the bar.

However, before she managed that, she was stopped in her tracks as the newcomer put her arms on Syrila's shoulders and began to dance very close to her.

"Hello there, handsome" she breathed huskily near Syrila's ear. "Can't believe that I almost overlooked you! We will have some fun you and I... and I am sure that you'll like me more than these kids" she said in seductive voice and chuckled. "The things I can show to a young one like you…"

Syrila was now in a very confused state. A small part of her wished to stay and take this mature seductress up on her offer, especially as she felt her body writhing against hers. However, she was also not stupid. She remembered her condition well and knew when to call it a day. She also did not like how the other asari were looking at her. She felt like a centre of attention again and it was not a feeling she would desire to feel tonight.

"Sorry, I think that I need to go sit down…" she began to say, excusing herself with a polite smile. She looked at her new dance partner carefully for the first time.

Syrila gasped at what she saw. Smile froze on her lips as she recognized the asari in front of her. She was wearing a make up but it was definitely _**her**_.


	3. Hyetiana II

Syrila's eyes moved between the face of her asari partner and her ample cleavage, utterly unable to reconcile the two being located on the same body.

When the shock from seeing _this_ person in _this_ place wore off, Syrila began to frown. She briefly considered storming out of here, but when she saw her asari partner smiling at her instead, she sighed and decided to play along for now. They danced for a few more minutes before the asari spoke.

"Would you like to get out of here? My place is very near" she said in a very seductive voice that once again, Syrila had trouble matching to the face.

Syrila noticed that the question was asked purposefully out loud for the other asari to hear and so she was forced to act along.

"I'd love to…" she answered loudly, trying to make herself sound convincingly smitten and not at all sarcastic.

Apparently, she was convincing enough because the other asari vocally moaned in disappointment as her current dance partner placed her hand on Syrila's midriff and slowly escorted her off the dance floor and out of the room. Reluctantly, Syrila placed her own hand on her as well.

She briefly feared that the other asari would try to follow them, but they gradually dispersed around the room. Their little dancing circle was lost without its centerpiece.

Syrila and the asari walked slowly to the exit, pretending to share little intimacies along the way. To any outside observer, they would simply look like two asari maidens about to have a _fun_ for the rest of the night.

Syrila almost turned toward the dressing room, but her partner urged her toward the exit.

"My skycar is very close to the entrance…" she said. "You can have your things delivered later… I want you _**now**_" she said and Syrila was amazed at how convincing she sounded. She double checked her face again to verify that the asari was who Syrila _knew_ that she was. Light blue skin with patches of intricate white tattoos framed in kind looking face and brown eyes were staring back at her. She looked normal and yet so different.

When they stepped outside, they were immediately assaulted by the cold weather. However, true to her word, it was only ten meters to the skycar. The machine opened the doors on her command and they got in, Syrila taking the passenger seat while the asari sat behind the controls.

The doors closed and the engine started, rapidly heating the cabin. The asari worked with the controls for a moment before engaging the _privacy mode_. The sounds of the music coming from inside the building were instantly silenced. Also, to the outside observer, the skycar's windows would now appear completely opaque even though the people inside could still see through just fine.

They sat in awkward silence for a while.

"I am not sure how to start this conversation…" the asari eventually began to speak, the sleazy seductive undertone completely gone from her voice.

"How did you find me here?" Syrila interrupted her, looking at her governess in mixed anger and gratitude.

Laya shrugged. "When I checked on you and realized that you were gone, I saw the footsteps leading away from the house. As for how I found you… the snowmobile had a satellite tracking" she admitted.

"I also noticed that you recently unpacked your party clothes from Thessia… so when I saw on my omni-tool that the snowmobile was parked here, it was very clear what you were planning"

Syrila snorted. "And what's with this?" she asked, pointing at Laya's revealing clothes.

"I knew that I needed to get you out, but I could not risk rising a suspicion by simply dragging you out of the club kicking and screaming… it had to be inconspicuous"

"Unfortunately, I still look too young to safely pretend to be your parent, so faking to be your prospective lover was my best option"

"I disguised myself appropriately… and here I am" Laya summed up.

"Disguise? You look amazing!" Syrila tried to lighten the mood, but a stern expression from her elder made her stop.

"Syrila, I need to ask you a question and I need you to tell me the truth" she said in deadly serious expression.

"Did anyone in here meld with you?"

"No!" Syrila gasped in annoyance. "I would never do that! I know that I can never do that… I am not a stupid freak!" she protested.

"Of course you're not…" Laya calmed her. "That's not what I meant… I asked whether _someone_ melded with _you?_"

Syrila looked at her in confusion but she turned her head in negative. "Same answer" she said and Laya visibly relaxed.

"Then maybe now you can tell me why you came here in the first place…" she asked the inevitable question that Syrila feared.

The young asari nervously played with her hands folded in her lap. "I wanted to meet new people, have some _fun_…" she said and Laya looked at her with suspicion.

"Not like that! I just wanted to chat and dance a little. Not hurt anybody!" she insisted. "I know that I cannot meld and I wouldn't!"

Syrila turned her head away as tears threatened to appear in her eyes. "I feel very lonely sometimes… I thought this would help me"

Laya shook her head sadly. "You should have told me, Syrila" she said in understanding, but slightly hurt tone.

"It would not make a difference" Syrila retorted.

"Maybe it wouldn't… or maybe it would" Laya mused. "You'll never know without a little leap of faith. Why didn't you tell me, though?"

Syrila looked back at her. "Because mother and you were wrong. You said that my condition is dangerous to others… that I need to keep away from them in order to protect them" Syrila spoke quickly and Laya urged her to continue.

"But it is only dangerous if I meld with them, and I can control that!"

Laya smiled at her sympathetically. "Yes, I know that you are strong enough, you are a T'Soni after all… the issue was never about strength of your own will but rather about the strength of _others_."

"What do you mean?" Syrila asked in confusion.

"Think about it for a moment… if the only issue was _**you**_ not melding with anyone, then your mother would have simply extracted a promise from you never to meld and then she would have gladly kept you on Thessia"

"But she did not trust that I would be able to keep that promise!" Syrila cried out. "That's why I have to live here alone…"

Laya sighed. "Perhaps we should have told you about this sooner" she mused. "The truth is that your mother trusted _you_ fully. She merely did not trust _the people _around you."

"Is that why you asked me whether _someone_ melded with _me_?" Syrila asked with her curiosity peaked. Despite being its victim, she was still rather curious about the Ardat-Yakshi syndrome.

Laya nodded. "Yes... your condition is having a certain passive effect on people whether you actively want to or not" she clarified.

Syrila thought back to what transpired inside the club only a few minutes ago…

"Is that why they… oh, goddess" she suddenly gasped in understanding. She remembered the dance circle forming around them, the lustful looks of the other asari, the jealousy…

Laya saw the younger asari looking back at the club in fear. "You noticed it, didn't you?"

"I thought I was just making friends…" Syrila mumbled in shock before looking straight at Laya.

"But they never really liked me on their own, did they? It was all just my body messing with their mind…"

Laya put her hand on Syrila's arm to comfort her. "If they got to know you, I am sure that they would have loved you for who you are… a nice and smart girl" she tried to cheer her up.

"But in here, they craved you only for the feeling that _your body_ was giving them…" she said sadly. "I am so sorry, Syrila"

"So, if you didn't come…?" Syrila asked her the big question.

"Then they would have completely fallen under your… _spell_, for lack of a better word" Laya explained. "If you were older, you could have taken control of them after that and they would faithfully obey you without question."

"However, seeing as you are still young, I fear that they would eventually become aggressive… might have even forced themselves on you –" Laya gulped down as she spoke the next word.

"_Rape you_ – they would meld with you against your will and you would kill them as a result…" Laya paused, allowing her words to sink.

"And need I remind you that even an Ardat-Yakshi rape victim is considered a criminal by the Justicars?"

"This… I didn't want any of this" Syrila wailed, tears streaming down her face as she listened to Laya's horrible predictions.

Laya tried to put a comforting hand on her again but this time, Syrila stopped her.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed, jerking away from Laya's touch and retreating further away to the passenger's doors.

Laya didn't know what to say as Syrila looked sadly to the crowd outside of the club, mingling and having fun.

"I am really a monster…" she eventually said, looking into the night. "Perhaps asari have it right in locking people like me away…"

"No!" Laya suddenly exclaimed, succeeding in taking Syrila out of her miserable thoughts and earning her attention.

"This is exactly why your mother and I decided not to tell you about the full impact of your condition… because we _knew_ you would react this way" Laya explained. "You are NOT a monster Syrila!" she insisted.

"And don't you ever suggest that you should be in monastery!" Laya hissed, perhaps too harshly.

"Why?" Syrila did not give up. "At least then, I would never hurt anyone again…"

"I have been to one of those monasteries, Syrila… your mother arranged a visit on Lesuss for me just before we started to live on this planet" Laya admitted.

This interested Syrila. "Really?"

"Yes. And it made me swear to make sure that you never end up there" Laya said with a disgust creeping into her voice.

"I mean, _maybe_ some of what they do helps the Ardat-Yakshi a little, but in the end, they are still letting them rot away" Laya fumed.

"They keep them docile and defenseless… like a cattle. It is not life, only surviving"

Syrila looked at her governess in fascination. She never saw her get so passionate about anything before.

"I think that the asari species is going to pay a terrible price for how we treat the ardat-yakshi…" Laya continued quietly.

"What we do to them is evil and I think that one day, someone or something… maybe even some much greater evil… is going to use it against us."

Laya stayed silent for a moment.

"Then all those asari who call the Ardat-Yakshi '_monsters' _will know that under our beauty, there is always potential to be a monster in all of us"

Syrila looked at her, trying to gauge whether Laya wasn't just trying to cheer her up. However, she saw no signs of deception from her. "Ok…" she eventually whispered, accepting Laya's words.

"I still don't want to have this effect on people, though" Syrila said.

"And you won't have to" Laya smiled, making Syrila looked at her hopefully.

"You remember all those meditation techniques that I've been teaching you? The biotic trainings with T'Soni commandos?" she asked and Syrila nodded.

"They are all designed to expand your control over your nervous system… to the point where you will be able to consciously control the effects that you have on others" Laya explained to her happily.

"You mean that I wouldn't influence others if I didn't want to? When will I learn this?" Syrila asked enthusiastically.

"They will always feel attracted to you, Syrila…after all, you are turning into a very beautiful asari" she said, making Syrila blush deeply.

"Being Ardat-Yakshi will always make you somewhat more desirable, but… you _will_ be able to control it so they won't be distracted, nor loose control in your presence"

"As for when you'll be able… I suspect that soon. You are a very good student and your biotic potential is already through the roof" Laya practically beamed at her with pride.

They both looked outside at the happy crowd in front of the club.

"In few years… decade maybe, you will be able to have friends and know that they like you because of you… not just because your condition _forces_ them to like you."

Syrila nodded with huge smile. "I look forward to that…"

Laya chuckled. "Although maybe not in a packed nightclub… really, what possessed you to come to this place of all?" Laya turned her head in disbelieve. "Almost everyone here is looking to meld with someone at the end of the night…"

"I guess I wanted to prove that I could resist the temptation no matter what…" Syrila offered an answer, suddenly unsure about her own motivations. The entire evening was starting to look more and more surrealistic in her mind.

"Wait a minute!" she suddenly exclaimed and turned at Laya.

"What about you?" she said while pointing at her governess.

"What about me what?" Laya asked with amused expression.

"Well how come you are not going crazy from my presence?" Syrila clarified.

"And come to think of it… what about my mother and sisters, prof. Solus, all those acolytes…?"

Laya sighed as she explained. "You probably realized by now that your powers are largely sexual in nature… like you did tonight, your body instinctively seduces people to sexually desire you" she said and Syrila reluctantly nodded.

"Therefore, your power will not influence your blood relatives… evolution took care of that"

"Padrik Solus was very old by the time he came here and he was a Salarian… any sexual desire he might have felt was already long gone for his age and species. It was actually part of the reason why your mother hired him."

"As for the commandos… you probably haven't noticed it but those who come here are usually bonded with each other" Laya explained. "Or at least they are strongly attached to another. It allows them to focus any desire you might otherwise… _stir_ in them"

Syrila thought about it for a moment before she looked at Laya. "So what about you? Do you desire me?"

Laya smiled. "Syrila… I know you since you were born. You are like a daughter to me" she said with misty eyes.

Syrila teared up a little before she moved to hug her governess… and also, as she now understood, her oldest friend.

"Thank you…" they whispered in unison before giggling in amusement.

"That said…" Laya began to speak as she let go of her protégé. "I also take certain drugs to suppress my desires in that way…" she admitted.

"Oh…" Syrila said. "Sorry…" she apologized, but Laya told her it was alright.

"Aren't there any drugs for my condition, though?" Syrila asked.

"Yes, there are…" Laya reluctantly admitted. "In monasteries, they give the girls drugs in their food to suppress their abilities, but there are side effects… their biotics are largely stunted for example" Laya explained.

"They actually like this side effect because it keeps the otherwise naturally powerful Ardat-Yakshi from fighting back against their captors..."

Syrila snorted in derision. _"Typical…"_ she thought.

"We will give you this drug only as a last option… your mother and I are optimistic about your progress so far. We think you will manage without it" she said and Syrila agreed.

"Let's get out of here…" she said and Laya nodded, activating the vehicle's automatic program that would take them home.

"Are you going to tell my mother about tonight?" Syrila asked as the car drove them home.

"If she asks me about it, I will not lie to her" Laya said and Syrila lowered her eyes.

"But I don't think that she will ask me _exactly_ about that…" she winked at the young asari who smiled at her in return.

They stayed silent for a while as snow capped countryside streamed beyond the car's windows.

"Does it ever get better… my condition, I mean?" Syrila asked. "Will I ever come to terms with it?"

Laya laughed. "Only you can ever decide that, Syrila… all I can do is tell you my opinion" she said and Syrila nodded at her, indicating that she indeed wanted to hear her opinion.

"Ok, this is just a theory we worked out with your mother…" Laya said.

"You will get better after few decades as your control grows. Since you will never meld, you are likely going to stay in your maiden stage longer than usual"

"However, eventually, you are going to reach your matron stage… and this is where it will get _much_ worse again"

"Much worse?" Syrila looked at her in shock.

"You will want children, Syrila…" Laya explained.

"But I can't have them, I know that!" the young asari protested.

"It won't matter. You _will_ want them and reasonable arguments may not stop you from trying... it would probably be best to isolate yourself for few years before this desire passes"

"If you still do not meld, you will become matriarch soon after that… and then you will be absolutely fine" Laya explained.

"You will have full control of your powers and no biological desires clouding your mind any longer"

"So basically, I have to wait until I am as old as my mother is now and then everything will be good?" Syrila asked and Laya nodded.

"Matriarch Syrila T'Soni…" she said with a smile and Syrila punched her playfully on her shoulder.

"Stop it! It sounds ridiculous!" they both laughed for a while.

When they finally settled down, they were already approaching the house.

"Can you take us to the roof?" Syrila asked.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I want to see Thessia" she affirmed and Laya programmed the car to take them to the roof.

There was an amateur telescope placed on the roof of Syrila's house and the young asari would often spend many hours looking at Hyetiana's night sky.

And whenever it was visible, she would look at Parnitha – the star around which her homeworld rotated.

She could not see the planet itself, of course. Even gas giant Athame was not visible at this distance. But still…she liked to pretend.

When the skycar landed on the roof and they opened the doors, a terrible cold air assaulted their insufficiently clothed bodies. "We should not be here…" Laya cried out.

"We are asari, are we not?" Syrila replied and fired up her biotic barrier which Laya followed in due. All the sudden, they felt the cold no longer.

A low level biotic barrier tuned in certain way prevented the infrared radiation from coming through.

It was one of the reasons that the asari were generally more comfortable with nudity than the other races – using biotics to protect their bodies from cold was largely sufficient for most of their species history. Wearing clothes was necessary only in high latitudes of Thessia and in mountains.

Of course, later, wearing clothes became a cultural custom. But it was not an evolutionary necessity like with the other races.

Taking a quick glance at the night sky, Syrila quickly located the point where she knew Parnitha was located and positioned her telescope into that area. Even though it was in nearby star cluster, the star was only of medium size and therefore relatively unremarkable in the Hyetiana's night sky which was otherwise a marvelous view to behold.

The limited development of the planet meant that the light pollution that plagued so many planets was almost non-existent there. This fact alone was a marvel of engineering, because the high-albedo quality of the snow and ice meant that any artificial light on Hyetiana had a large potential to pollute a relatively big area.

"There she is…" Syrila sighed when she centered Parnitha in her telescope, imagining that Thessia was orbiting it somewhere nearby.

She allowed Laya to look at it then.

"Laya, I wanted to ask you something…" she said as the older asari looked through the telescope.

"Do you think that my mother hates me?" she asked, making Laya move away from the telescope and look at Syrila's slightly glowing form.

"Because you are Ardat-Yakshi?" Laya asked and Syrila nodded.

"I mean… I know that she cares about me, but how can I ever be anything but a disappointment to her in comparison?" Syrila asked with tears threatening her again.

"Benezia is a perfect daughter and a paragon of diligence…" Syrila said with slight bitterness in her voice. "And even though Atala can be a slut sometimes, she is still _**not**_ an Ardat-Yakshi"

"But me… my condition is all I'll ever be. An embarrassment to my family"

Laya looked at her, considering what to respond.

"You don't believe any of that… your family loves you. Your mother did what she did only with heavy heart. And your sisters? I was there when they were told about you and what needed to be done. You know how they reacted?" Laya asked and Syrila turned her head.

"They both threatened to walk out… to leave their legacy behind and run away with you_**. **_That's how much they love you, Syrila" Laya explained.

"I believe that was the only time I heard Benezia use the word '_bullshit_'."

"It took your mother a lot of time to convince them to go along with this"

"I don't know what future holds out for any of us, Syrila, but I know that your mother has a plan for you… she is _**not **_writing you off" Laya stressed.

"Ok, I will trust her… and you"

Laya nodded. "Your mother is a very wise asari…" she said.

"So please don't tell her I've said that, but she also has little idea of what she's doing here" Laya said and smiled at Syrila's disbelieving expression. Syrila never heard Laya talking anything put praise about her mother.

"What I mean is that there is not exactly a published manual on how to secretly raise an Ardat-Yakshi daughter" Laya added.

"So if you ever feel depressed and pressured too much, I want you to tell us, all right?"

"I will, I promise" Syrila smiled.

"I also need you to promise me that you won't do anything like you did tonight… not any time soon" Laya said.

"I don't think I will…" Syrila said while smiling. "I only did this because I felt lonely and without friends… little did I realize that I had the best friend in the galaxy standing right next to me" she smiled and hugged Laya as the older asari hugged her back.

"Let's look at Thessia some more…" Syrila said when they moved apart and she reached for the telescope.

* * *

><p><strong>Thessia, 2196 CE<strong>

"Thank you for coming with me today, Liara" Syrila said to her niece as they sat in the skycar driven by one of Liara's acolytes.

"I am glad I did" the younger asari responded. "She was important to you and I want to know everything about you" she said which prompted Syrila to smile.

Only after Syrila told many stories about Laya Navis to her eager friends and descendants, were they finally allowed to leave their company.

They were now traveling back to Liara's home in Armali.

"I cannot even imagine what it must feel like to loose a friend whom you knew for over a millennium" Liara said. "I am sorry, Syrila"

Syrila nodded her head with sad expression as she took Liara's hand and squeezed it in assurance.

"Thank you, Liara. I will be fine…in time" she said in shaky voice. They both stayed silent for a moment.

"Did you stay in touch with her over they years?" Liara eventually asked.

"Yes, although not as much as I would have liked" Syrila sighed. "My condition is to blame… I had to be careful, especially with those I cared about."

"That mostly meant encrypted messages… We could risk personal contact only every few decades and they became even sparser after the Shadow Broker arrived onto the galactic stage"

"But, in the end, we really got to reconnect these last few years" Syrila said with nostalgia.

"I have _**you **_to thank for this" Syrila said seriously as she turned to look at Liara.

Liara knew that her aunt was referring to the ardat-yakshi cure.

"Honestly, I always thought that the fate of the ardat-yakshi was something that was never going to get better… our people were too stubborn, too rigid" Syrila mused.

"And yet you managed to completely change the course of our history in few short years!"

Liara's blush deepened. "Please…"

"But I suppose that after winning the galactic war and taking over the largest intelligence network in the galaxy… the ardat-yakshi cure is going to be only a _minor_ chapter in Liara T'Soni official biography" Syrila offered, making Liara and herself laugh for few seconds.

"Not to me it won't…" Liara finally said in serious tone.

Meanwhile, their skycar left the city where Laya lived and they were now flying over Thessia's countryside.

"How long did she stay with you on Hyetiana?" Liara later asked.

"Until I could take care of myself entirely" Syrila explained and Liara nodded. "She would have gladly stayed longer, but…"

"In the end, it was actually _**me **_who left" Syrila said and Liara looked at her in surprise.

"It must have been somewhere around my 160th birthday…" Syrila mused looking out of the skycar on some distant horizon.

"The year when I went away to fight in the Krogan rebellions…"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I realize that my timeline here does not add up and Syrila could not possibly be there. However, at this point I already have a strong headcanon of Syrila fighting in the Rebellions. **

**Therefore, for the purpose of this story, I will be retconing the Krogan rebellions to be happening several centuries later than they did in the games. It should not cause any continuity problems anyway.**

**I apologize to the ME purists :-) Although, from a certain time, I tend to say "Fuck the Artistic integrity" :-D :-D**


	4. Hyetiana III - The Eve of War

**Thessia, 2197 CE**

_Bam! Bam!_

A sound of shooting echoed over the empty and otherwise silent plain. It was early in the morning and there was still a pinch of sleepiness hanging over the T'Soni estate.

The two figures holding shotguns and standing side by side however felt none of it.

_Bam._

"Yes!" Shepard cheered as she disintegrated another flying clay disc with her weapon.

It was her own idea to set up a small exterior shooting range just a few kilometers away from the main house. Situated in a valley between two gentle hills, it was an ideal place.

Even after settling down on Thessia with Liara, she still very much needed to keep her skills sharp. Back on the Normandy, she would regularly exercise her shooting skills, be it on missions or on the ships training deck.

Also, given the fact that most of her friends had a military background, setting up a private shooting range near their house was ideal for entertaining guests.

Of course, her present company was not just friends… they were family.

The asari standing next to her followed her previous example as she successfully pulverized her own flying discs.

Shepard's omni-tool beeped. The VI that was handling the machine shooting the discs was indicating to her that they ran out of targets.

"Finished…" she told her partner, feeling a deep satisfaction – out of fifty discs, she only missed two.

Shepard was however also pleasantly surprised at the skill of her fellow shooter who missed only five.

"You know… I always imagined matriarchs to be these great advisors and mentors rather than fighters"

Syrila raised a tattooed eye-brow at her – a trait she curiously shared with her niece.

"And you kept that impression even after meeting your father-in-law?" she asked, referring to Aethyta.

Shepard giggled a little.

"Yes, that was an eye opener, but still… I can't help but compare you to Benezia – Liara's mother that is" Shepard explained. "Back on Noveria, she kept us at bay with her biotics alone… never used any weapon"

"Yes… my elder sister was not much of a shooter. I suppose that she never had a reason to be" Syrila mused aloud.

"On the other hand, with me, mother insisted that I was taught all available battle techniques. They would not relent until I could routinely defeat the family's commandos in a duel, be it with weapons, biotics or with my bare hands…"

Shepard smiled. "This actually sounds a lot like an alliance boot camp"

"Nothing so noble" Syrila continued. "But close. The assumption was that I might have to fight for my life one day… that a justicar might discover me, for example. They wanted me to be ready for all eventualities"

"Fortunately, I never came into a conflict with justicars. I was careful… kept my identity hidden" Syrila said, reiterating her past memories to the human spectre.

"Still… I've been to a lot of fighting over the years."

"Yeah…" Shepard said as she put her shotgun back to its holster. "Liara told me that you fought in the krogan rebellions?" she asked and watched the asari nod.

Shepard looked at her with awe.

"I can't wait to tell Wrex…" Shepard said.

Her old team mates, Urdnot Wrex and Garrus Vakarian were coming in for a visit in few hours. They were going to stay for a few days before they'll all continue to the Citadel for a diplomatic meeting. Syrila would stay behind on Thessia and watch over their daughter while they were gone.

The impending visit of Garrus and Wrex was one of the reasons that she went to the shooting range with Syrila this day. She knew that Garrus would inevitably demand another shooting contest, just as he always did during his visits and she wanted to be ready.

"_My name is Shepard and this will be my favorite spot on Thessia… you can count on that mister Vakarian"_

"Shepard… do you think it's wise to tell him?" Syrila asked quietly.

"What?" Shepard asked. With her thoughts suddenly interrupted it took her a moment to understand what she meant. "You mean with you fighting against krogans?" she asked.

"Yes. I don't want the first impression to be a bad one" Syrila said.

Shepard understood Syrila's concern. She would be meeting Wrex for the first time.

"Often, the krogans are still bitter about what happened in the war. Especially those who fought in it" she said.

It took Shepard only a split second before she answered. "Not Wrex… in fact, he will probably respect you more for it"

"Most likely, he will make few inappropriate remarks and then he will want to exchange war stories with you over a bottle of Ryncol…"

Syrila shivered at the mention of the krogan alcoholic drink. "I was afraid you would say that…"

They both laughed at that as they sat down on a wooden bench placed a few paces behind the shooting stations.

"How come you ended up in the war anyway?" Shepard asked. "I'd imagine that your family could keep you away from it"

"They could… but I _wanted_ to fight" Syrila admitted. "I was young and eager… and the krogans were a menace"

Shepard thought for a moment. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I am still unclear on how you and salarians managed to hold out against them for so long. I mean in the reaper war…"

"… you were less than impressed with my people's battle prowess?" Syrila finished her thought for her.

"A lot of things changed since them… even asari were different"

"How so?" Shepard asked her.

Syrila looked around for a moment, gesturing to her surroundings.

"For a long time… we felt that Thessia – _our home _– was threatened… many asari believed for over a century that the uncontrolled expansion of the krogan was not going to end well"

"When the krogan finally invaded our space, annexing the planet Lusia, all asari felt compelled to defend our place in the galaxy"

"Krogan rebellions was the last _total war _that my people seriously fought in. I suppose that in later centuries, the asari grew a little too much _comfortable_ and reliant on turians when it came to front line assaults…"

"A matter that I discussed with Benezia many times over the years… however, rather than trying to change our people, her solution was to bring turians further under our control"

"I suppose that it worked… until the reapers arrived that is."

Shepard listened intently.

"Still, hard to imagine that your family would be happy to let you go under such circumstances" she mused.

Syrila laughed. "They definitely were not… can you imagine that little Benny would come to you one day and tell you that she is off… leaving to fight in a galactic war?"

It was Shepard's turn to shiver. "I hope that any possibility of _that_ is still very far away in the future…"

"You would be freaking out… even if she was hundred years old and the best commando on the planet" Syrila offered and Shepard reluctantly admitted that she was absolutely right.

She was one of the parents who hoped that their child _was not _going to follow her footsteps.

Syrila continued. "Actually, my mother did freak out… in a way that a noble T'Soni matriarch could, that is…"

* * *

><p><strong>Hyetiana, 1295 CE<strong>

"…_We will never leave the planet Lusia. No matter how much the asari cry!..."_

Syrila was playing the entire recording for what felt like a thousandth time. A recording that shocked and divided the galaxy.

Krogan overlord Kredak attacking the council inside their chambers, first verbally and then physically. Afterwards, he stormed away and left the citadel.

In the following days, the krogans began gearing up for a full scale war and the council responded in kind.

Both sides found themselves in a situation to which war was the only answer. Krogan needed more planets for their ever growing population and the other races could not afford to give them more than they already had.

"Syrila… this is not wise"

Her governess, Laya Navis, was watching her charge with an ever growing concern.

Syrila was in a process of packing, running around the house and trying to fit all items that she wanted to take with her into the single and rather small handbag permitted by the military regulations.

"I have no choice" Syrila answered quickly while still moving fast around her room, finishing her packing. "I have been drafted"

It was true. For the second time in their history, the asari republics have instituted draft on Thessia and most of its colonies. All maidens between the ages of 150 and 250 were eligible for a military service.

"Oh come on!" Laya complained angrily. "That is a flimsy excuse and you know it!"

"You don't figure on any draft rosters! Your residential files are faked! Officially, you do not even exist!"

Syrila finished her packing by zipping up her hand bag and was now looking at Laya.

"I know…" she said in a calm voice.

"But honestly, Laya, if _**I**_ do not join this fight, who will?" Syrila asked her. "You saw me training with the acolytes… you know what I can do"

"But…" Laya tried to protest again, but Syrila cut her off.

"Laya, I will not wait to see Krogan boots stomping on Thessia! You saw what happened at the Citadel, you saw the reports on what is happening on Lusia… our people are under attack, they need help"

"But what if you are found out?" Laya tried one desperate protest.

Syrila shrugged. "The chances of that are negligible… I doubt they will be actively searching for ardat-yakshi in a middle of a war"

"And before you ask…" Syrila said. "_Yes_, I did tell all of this to my mother during our last communication"

Laya nodded happily. "And I assume she told you '_no'_, right?" she said hopefully.

Syrila smiled. "Actually, she told me that she needs to think about it and that she will contact me later"

"At least promise me that you won't do anything before you hear from her again…" Laya pleaded and after a short moment, Syrila agreed.

"Come on…" Laya urged, trying to change the uncomfortable subject. "I am very hungry… and you haven't eaten anything yet as well"

"I ordered a takeout today" Syrila told her, feeling indeed very hungry. "Should be there any minute now…"

They did not even get to the dining room yet when they heard a door bell ringing.

"That must be it, I'll get it" Syrila said and went for the door while Laya prepared the table.

Syrila fired up her omni-tool to transfer the payment to the delivery person. She was still very much preoccupied with her earlier conversation with Laya and so she nearly stumbled when she opened the door and saw who was waiting on its other side.

There were about twenty asari in commando leathers positioned in an organized formation behind their leader who was now standing directly in front of surprised Syrila.

"Mother…" she gasped.

_**Amalia T'Soni**_ – the current leader of the main branch of the T'Soni family and mother of three daughters – Benezia, Atala and Syrila T'Soni.

"May I come in, my daughter?" the matriarch calmly asked her even while Syrila still blocked her path with her mouth opened in pure shock.

"Of course, of course, please" Syrila collected herself and allowed her mother and several members of her entourage to enter her house"

"I almost forgot…" her mother suddenly stopped and lifted a package in her hand that Syrila did not even notice before.

"Your takeout" she explained as she gave the package over to Syrila who numbly took it from her.

They went inside the house and directly into the living room where the matriarch sat on a sofa while her guards positioned themselves inconspicuously around the room.

Syrila sat in a chair opposite to her mother.

"I think you know why I am here…" her mother began to say, but before she could finish her though, Laya Navis walked into the room.

"Syrila…" she was about to ask where was the food, but then she saw the matriarch and froze. "Mistress T'Soni!"

"Laya, it is good to see you, my friend" Amalia stood up and went to greet her most loyal acolyte with a hug.

Initially, Syrila suspected that it was Laya who arranged this visit, but when she saw the look of utter surprise on the face of her governess, she realized that this was not the case.

After greeting the matriarch, Laya looked between Amalia and her daughter, who was sitting in her chair, about to be interrogated.

"Let me get you some refreshments, Mistress…" she quickly said and hurried off, leaving the family alone.

When the matriarch sat down again, she was staring directly at Syrila.

"Why do you want to go to the war, Syrila?" she asked directly, carefully studying her daughter's reaction.

Syrila knew that she was being tested and had to carefully weigh her answers. At the same time she was not going to lie to her mother.

"The krogan attacked us… they have to be stopped" she answered, not wavering from her mother's gaze.

The matriarch turned her head. "That is why the republics are going to war, but why you – _Syrila T'Soni_ personally – want to go?" she pressed her.

Syrila proceeded to repeat to her the same reasons she gave to Laya. The matriarch listened carefully, taking everything in. Her emotions were unreadable as usual and Syrila had absolutely no idea what her mother was thinking at that moment.

"Very well…" Amalia finally said at the end.

"What? Does that mean that I can go?" Syrila asked in surprise. She was half-expecting her mother to deny her the permission.

"If it were only up to me, you wouldn't… but what you said is true. Our people are in danger and none of us can stand aside. Not even you" she explained.

Then, she leaned closer to Syrila and said in a quiet voice. "Our people might have forsaken you because of your condition… I am however glad that you haven't forsaken them"

While Syrila thought her mother's words over, Amalia signaled to one of her acolytes who stepped forward and activated her omni-tool.

Syrila's own device vibrated alerting her to the happenings and to the incoming stream of data.

"If you really wish to join up, then that is your new identity…" her mother explained as Syrila began to read the information she was receiving.

_Her new name._ She was 180 years old and for the last fifty years, she has been training at the Matriarch Thekla's institute of Serrice – a very prestigious training facility for aspiring young commandos.

"Officially, your new _family_ is distantly related to the T'Soni family clan" her mother explained. "That way, if anyone were to examine your DNA for some reason, the results would simply confirm the relation and hopefully, they would leave it at that…"

Syrila looked up at her mother. "And here I thought you were going to forbid me from going. You obviously prepared this carefully before coming here" she mused.

Amalia nodded. "Yes, I merely wanted to verify your motivations… if you simply wished to go because of some bloodthirsty drive, I would not let you"

"Seeing as that is not the case, I otherwise want you to make your own decisions in life, Syrila… as much as circumstances allow" she told her.

Syrila nodded and smiled at her words. She was honored at the trust her mother was showing towards her ardat-yakshi daughter.

"That said… I am very worried about you. I suspect that this conflict will be even more horrible than the Rachni Wars" her mother said with a great worry in her voice.

She sighed as she leaned closer to Syrila.

"Sadly, it is not my place to be your shield forever, Syrila…" she explained.

"Still, I want to you to have the best chance…"

Amalia gestured to another one of her acolytes who promptly left the room.

"What do you mean?" Syrila asked curiously.

"I have brought you something… an experimental technology" she explained.

"Recently, our scientists came up with a way to miniaturize the mass effect barrier generators…" she said mysteriously.

Syrila nodded in understanding. The typical barrier generators were inelegant devices, so enormous in size that their only practical application was when mounted on starships.

If someone were to actually succeed in reducing the dimensions of the device without sacrificing its basic functionality, it would be an enormous accomplishment.

"How much miniaturized?" she asked with enthusiasm.

Her question was rendered moot because at that moment, the acolyte returned and on a plate she held in her hands lay neatly folded… armor.

_A personal armor._

She placed in on a coffee table in front of Syrila.

"You have got to be kidding me…" she quietly whispered in disbelief to which her mother smiled.

"_**Nylene**_ will tell you all the details later…" her mother said, gesturing to one of her acolytes while Syrila touched the pristine looking armor in reverence.

"Suffice to say, that even without biotics, you _will_ have few extra seconds of shielding"

Syrila was touched. "Thank you, mother" she said with genuine gratefulness.

It was at that moment that Laya returned to the room with the refreshments. She was looking rather lively, but then she saw the combat armor lying in front of Syrila and her mood visibly dropped.

In her mind, Syrila chuckled sadly. No doubt Laya was hoping that the matriarch would forbid her from going away.

She offered the refreshments to the matriarch who accepted them politely. Then she sat in a free chair and kept looking between Syrila and the armor disapprovingly.

There was a pregnant pause for a moment as all three of them munched on the cookies and sandwiches that Laya brought and also on Syrila's takeout.

After a while, Syrila spoke. "Something like this would be immensely useful for the war effort…" she mentioned, pointing at the armor. "Why is it not used by everyone already?" she asked the obvious question.

"It's fresh off the research board… a functioning prototype" Nylene the acolyte clarified. "A few more years of development would be ideal, but the imminent war left the creators with little choice but to rush things a little…"

Syrila nodded. If they could distribute these beauties to the asari armies, it might very well be the tipping point that helps them to win the entire war.

"Do I even want to know how you got it?" Syrila carefully asked, looking between the acolyte and her mother.

Nylene shared a look with her principle, seeking a permission to talk… which she did.

"Mistress T'Soni…, your mother, is a major investor in the company that made it" she said carefully.

"_Of course… what was mother thinking?"_ Syrila thought.

"Then I don't want it…" she said resolutely, folding her hands on her chest in defensive posture.

"Why?" the acolyte asked, utterly baffled by Syrila's resistance. On the other hand, Amalia T'Soni merely smiled, already suspecting what was on mind of her youngest daughter.

"If mother owns the company, the armor would be obvious connection between me and family… it's too risky!" Syrila protested.

The matriarch smiled even more and Syrila was starting to feel frustrated.

"Please, my daughter…" she said in gentle voice. "While I am deeply touched at your dedication towards maintaining _our secret_, at this instance, it is not necessary…"

"In case anyone wonders about your armor, I have devised _**very**_ plausible explanation on how you got it…" Amalia said confidently.

Seeing the still slightly skeptical look of her daughter she added. "After one hundred years, I do not make mistakes like this anymore, Syrila…"

"Ok… I understand" Syrila eventually nodded.

She knew that over the years, her mother had to learn many intricate methods in order to keep Syrila's condition, and even her very existence, a secret.

Afterwards, they changed the topic, talking for several hours. When they got to news about her sisters, Syrila listened eagerly and with certain feeling of nostalgia.

While she regularly communicated with both Benezia and Atala, it was still good to hear about them… and it was very interesting to hear some of the crazy stories told from her mother's point of view.

Much to her surprise, Syrila learned that her sister Atala would be joining the war effort as well, albeit in a non-combatant role.

After studying law for over two decades, she would be working a desk job, coordinating supply lines to various units all over the theatre of war.

In addition, approximately third of house T'Soni commandos would be joining as well.

When it came to Benezia, her mother's answer was very mysterious.

"No, she will not join. I will need Benezia with me for the days to come…" she would simply say. However, Syrila was insistent.

Eventually, she managed to learn from her that her mother and her oldest sister were going to be living on and conducting some sort of high-level diplomatic negotiations on **Irune** – the Volus homeworld.

"Why? The volus already declared themselves neutral in this conflict!" Syrila said.

They were not alone either. The elcor and the hanar did similarly. For now, only the asari and the salarians were committed to the fight.

"I didn't say that we would be negotiating with the volus, Syrila…" her mother said, again in a very mysterious voice.

"And that is the _**absolute**_ maximum that I am willing to say on this matter" she said resolutely when she observed that Syrila was about to ask another question.

* * *

><p>Later in the evening, her mother and her company departed, leaving Syrila and Laya alone in the house again.<p>

When Syrila went to get a glass of water, she found her governess sitting in the kitchen, fiddling around with her dinner.

Syrila poured herself the water and joined her at the table.

"Hey… are you still angry with me?" she asked gently.

Laya sighed. "I was never really angry with you, Syrila. It's just that…" her voice betrayed her for a second and Syrila had to urge her to continue.

"I am going to miss you… it's as simple as that" she finally said.

"This is really not about the war… I knew that you would leave one day, but still…"

Syrila smiled sadly and went to the other side of the table to give her friend a big hug.

"I am going to miss you too, Laya..." she said as they hugged.

"What are your plans? Will you be ok?" she eventually asked her friend.

Laya smiled. "I think so. Originally, I was going to go back to Thessia and rejoin your mother… I am still her acolyte after all"

"However… seeing as I **do** have advanced medical training, I am now thinking of joining the medical corps" she said.

"You want to join the war?" Syrila asked surprised.

Laya nodded. "I am too old for fighting on the frontlines… but maybe I can save some lives _this way_"

"If that's what you want… I think it's a great idea!" Syrila said enthusiastically.

"Just do me a favor, Syrila…"

"Anything."

"Please be very careful… I would very much loath to meet you in one of my medical bays" Laya said with voice full of worry.

"Then let's make a deal…" Syrila suggested. "We will both live through the war and after it is over, we shall meet again… on Thessia"

Laya smiled weakly. "I like the sound of that"

* * *

><p><strong>Next morning<strong>

"You have excellent references miss _Dalia T'Vani_… may I assume you wish to keep your armor and weapons?" the older matron who served as recruitment officer on the colony of Hyetiana asked the armored and armed commando sitting in front of her.

"Yes" Dalia answered. "They fully conform to asari military specifications and regulations"

"Excellent… then if you would sign here, please" she said, handing a datapad over to Dalia who promptly signed it and returned it to the officer.

"You are in luck… a troop transport will be arriving in few hours to deliver you and the other recruits to the designated mustering point for this sector"

"Do you have any questions at this point?" she asked.

"No, thank you"

"Then good luck miss T'Vani" the officer said in honest voice before dismissing the newly recruited asari and calling in the next one in line.

Dalia T'Vani was looking out of the window of their troop transport and watching the rapidly retreating Hyetiana behind them.

She chuckled internally. It might have been an ice hell to her at first, but she already missed it.

Though, instead of moping about the past, she decided to look forward.

And while the future and even the very survival were uncertain, she found at least _one_ idea that gave her comfort... even though she had to wear the Dalia T'Vani mask…

_Syrila T'Soni was now back in the galaxy._


	5. Lusia

**A/N: I am sorry about the delay with the updates. To make it up, this chapter is slightly longer than usual :-) **

**Given the time of the year, I'd also like to wish merry christmas to my readers and very productive and happy new year!**

**One more thing: The rating of the story is getting upgraded to M for mentions of war related violence.**

**Enjoy! :-)**

* * *

><p><strong>Thessia, 2197 CE<strong>

"During the chase of Saren, we must have killed hundreds of krogan soldiers…" Shepard mused over Syrila's narration.

She remembered it vividly. In addition to the mechanical geth, the rogue turian spectre also recruited krogan shock troopers into his private army.

Most of them were not natural recruits though. He literally manufactured them in a cloning facility on Virmire. Until Shepard and her team blew it up…

From her own fighting experiences, Shepard knew that individual krogans were most dangerous in close quarters. Favoring shotguns and melee combat, they were lethal to get close by.

"They are tough bastards… but eventually, we figured out an effective way to deal with them" Shepard told her and explained what tactics her team adopted.

First, Liara would lay down a singularity in their path, trapping or slowing down the incoming krogan. Then, Shepard and her magical omni-tool would overload their shields and finally, Garrus or Wrex would cut them to pieces with their assault rifles as fast as possible. In the end, if anyone was still alive, Liara would detonate the singularity with warp, finishing any remaining survivors.

That was the ideal situation, of course. In case they failed to stop the enemy from approaching, they had to fight them directly.

Wrex could go against the other krogans, _mano a mano_. Liara could rely on her biotics, lifting or throwing her opponent away. Shepard and Garrus had to do a lot of dodging and ducking and occasional grenade tossing.

"No offense, Shepard… but I think the tank-breds who fought for Saren were a pale imitation of the real thing" Syrila said. "No tactical sense and very weak will…"

Shepard was about to ask how did she know that, but then she remembered that Syrila briefly encountered Saren's tank-bred krogan when they came for her on Hyetiana.

"And honestly, so are the krogan mercenaries these days… a pale imitation to the true warriors of old"

"Of old?" Shepard asked. "Like those who fought in the rebellions?"

Syrila nodded. "Many of the krogan leaders back then were veterans of the Rachni war… thousands of years old"

"What's the matter?" Syrila asked when Shepard gave her a disbelieving look.

"I know they live long lives, but that old?" she wondered.

"It's true" Syrila insisted. "I don't think any krogan ever died of old age… battle, accidents, diseases... sure. But not old age. Their species is quite literally a quirk of the evolution"

"Combine that with their rapid reproduction and you can probably see why the rebellions were inevitable"

"So _what_ were the krogan like back then?" Shepard asked next.

Syrila looked deep in thought before answering. "They were organized and with a functioning government… small, but powerful navy. Clan identity was not as significant to them as it is now"

Syrila chuckled. "They would hate to hear me say this, but they used be more like turians back then…"

"Interesting," Shepard thought out loud. "Whenever I talk about the rebellions with any krogan, they sound like nothing changed…"

"A wishful thinking at its worst…" Syrila said sadly.

"They don't want to admit to themselves how much they lost… due to the unnecessary war and then to the _bloody genophage_" Syrila growled.

"I take it you do not approve of the genophage?" Shepard asked. She knew that many of her friends were conflicted on the issue to this day. She was therefore interested to hear the perspective of someone who lived in that time.

Syrila stood up and made a few paces, stopping near the firing station.

"That's very complicated" she eventually said as she turned to look back at Shepard who was still sitting on the wooden bench. "Let's just say that when they first deployed it, I almost started a new galactic war with the turians"

"What?!" Shepard choked on the drink she meanwhile took from her canteen.

Syrila turned her head displaying a sad smile. "That's a very long story… another time, maybe"

Shepard decided to let it go for the moment.

"So what was the war like after you joined?" she asked instead.

"Horrible as any war. Although probably not as brutal as you would expect… with the enemy being the krogan"

"Really?"

"Yeah…" Syrila confirmed. "At the very start, the krogan didn't want to wipe out the other races… they simply dared us to take the planets back from them and I think that at least in the beginning, they really meant just that"

"That's not what I read in the galactic codex" Shepard protested.

Syrila laughed. "_Galactic codex_ that was written by turians…" she said.

"Although I suppose that between those two, it was a real slaughter…" she eventually admitted.

"Salarians and my people were very fortunate in one thing. During the war, the krogan never rescinded from the Citadel conventions"

"You mean the ones prohibiting asteroid warfare, bioweapons?" Shepard asked and Syrila nodded.

"Precisely… and especially the ones about _humane _treatment of the prisoners of war" Syrila added.

"That really doesn't sound like the krogans I heard about…" Shepard mused.

"It was partially practical for them to obey those basic conventions… I mean, they wanted to actually _live_ on our planets, not turn them into dust"

"But mostly, they considered it a matter of honor. And going back on their word by withdrawing from a previously signed treaty would have violated their cultural identity"

"_Definitely not the krogans I heard of…"_ Shepard thought.

Syrila laughed bitterly. "I know what you are thinking Shepard… after the genophage, their culture and society disintegrated… a given word meant nothing after a _treachery_ like that" she finished sadly.

"Of course, the krogan are also not completely innocent victims either…" Syrila assured her.

"When turians joined the war, they were subjected to most vicious attacks… orbital bombardments, summary executions of prisoners…"

"But the conventions…" Shepard pointed out.

Syrila shrugged as she turned the firing machine and began to program it.

"The krogan argued that since turians haven't yet signed the conventions at that point, they were not subjected to their protection…" Syrila eventually said and sneered at the words.

"And since the dextro amino worlds were useless to them, they did not hesitate to destroy turian colonies from orbit"

"Makes sense in the most horrible way" Shepard admitted. "Neither side had anything to gain, except the total destruction of their opponent" she mused.

"So you can imagine that there were not many turian POWs left alive after the war… and likewise, turians generally did not take any krogan captives either.

"Just for that, there would have been a bad blood between them for centuries to come, even had the genophage not happened"

Shepard nodded as she finally fully understood some of the lingering hostility between turians and krogans that she observed during the reaper war.

She stood up and joined Syrila at the firing machine.

"So what was your first battle like?" she eventually asked, changing the topic.

She then noticed the way Syrila meanwhile programmed the machine. It was set to fire the clay discs at very high velocity, very rapidly.

"That's too fast… you'll never shoot them all like this" she told her.

Syrila smirked. "I told you that we had to fight hard back then… and sometimes, we had to _cheat_ a little" she said as she unholstered her shotgun.

Syrila activated the machine and assumed her firing station.

Shepard knew there was no way to hit the discs with these settings and she was just calmly waiting for Syrila to come to the same conclusion.

But instead of trying to hit the flying discs, Syrila flared her biotics and created a massive stasis bubble over the entire shooting area. She smugly watched as the discs became frozen midair each time the machine fired them before pointing her shotgun and picking all of them one by one.

When she was done, she let the bubble disappear, holstered her weapon and turned to the gaping spectre.

"That's not how this is supposed to be played!" Shepard eventually protested to the widely grinning asari matriarch who elegantly evened the score between them.

"Doesn't seem fair…" she mumbled, lamenting her own lack of biotics.

"War is never fair… you know that better than anyone, Shepard," Syrila said while nodding sadly. "In the end, what matters is victory, not whether your methods were fair…"

"And Lusia campaign was certainly not an exception in that regard"

* * *

><p><strong>Lusia, 1295 CE<strong>

Syrila jerked as the transport vehicle hit another bump in the road. She was currently crammed inside an asari military transporter along with eleven other asari huntresses.

It was only three months after she signed herself to the asari army at the recruiting station on Hyetiana.

After short mandatory training, that was however merely a formality in Syrila's case, she was put straight into service.

**First mission:** planet Lusia, Tomaros System, Athena nebula.

In months prior to their announcement about annexation of Lusia, the krogans had managed to secretly amass a sizable force in the system, both on the ground and in space.

Fortunately, the asari soon obtained a tactical advantage over them.

At the eve of the war, they managed to assassinate (or so was the rumor) the krogan warlord _**Jurdon **__**Tolnar**_ who was going to be Kredak's commander-in-chief for krogan operations in the entire system and leader of eventual invasion of Thessia.

The asari intelligence also somehow obtained all his plans and information on the krogan forces.

The loss of their commander caused a confusion and chaos among the krogan forces on Lusia… chaos, which the asari immediately took advantage of by establishing several footholds on the planet.

With his most trusted general dead and seeing his plans crumbling prompted the krogan overlord Kredak to come to Lusia personally, along with as much ships as he could muster so quickly.

Only days after his arrival, the Citadel Council sent a relieve force into the Athena nebula which finally allowed the asari to impose a total blockade of Thessia's mass relay, preventing any more krogan ships from coming through and cutting off their supply lines.

The rest of their fleet was sent to deal with Kredak's forces orbiting Lusia.

Eventually, a wedge was driven between the krogan fleet and Lusia, enabling the asari ground forces to land and to try and liberate the planet.

Cut off from the rest of the galaxy, the krogan in Tomaros system were surrounded on all sides and backed into a corner…

_Which made them more dangerous than ever._

It was situation like this which Syrila found herself in when she was deployed along with the rest of asari ground forces.

Their first mission was to capture and liberate the capital city – **Monoi**.

When the krogan proclaimed the planet theirs, they seized Lusia's government buildings and police departments in an attempt to control the population.

Their plan met with mixed success as the native asari population showed little intention of being intimidated or willing to cooperate with the invaders. More than that, even some of the krogans actively opposed their government's plans. Especially those in domestic relationship with the local asari generally refused to treat their family with any less respect than before.

Still, the lightly defended asari colony had no chance to defend itself against coordinated hostile takeover and soon, the krogan had at least a nominal control over the planet.

Much of this changed when the asari forces retaliated.

Still taking advantage of the mayhem resulting from Tolnar's death, they quickly wrestled majority of the city away from the enemy.

However, just before losing the ground completely, the Krogan managed to restore their battle lines and counterattack.

They knew that they lost the capital, but they were going to make the asari pay for every street corner.

By the time they finally withdraw from the city, there were many casualties and destruction.

Despite asari's best efforts at evacuating the non-combatants from the war zones, losses among civilians could not be avoided.

It was during the _**battle for Monoi **_where Syrila T'Soni first tasted the atrocities of war and showed her skills in real combat.

Hiding herself behind the mask of _huntress Dalia T'Vani_, the young asari soon profiled herself as an asari infiltrator.

While she was very proficient in all manners of combat (compliments of decades of rigorous study and training), she was most at home with her sniper rifle, picking the enemies off from a distance and clearing the way for her comrades.

Her marksmanship skills were being excellently complimented by her biotical powers – whether because of her ardat-yakshi condition or simply because of the fact that T'Soni family members were always exceptionally powerful, Syrila mastered a rare biotic discipline called the **Dark Channel**.

With this discipline, she was able to cast a biotic field around her enemies that would continuously damage their defenses and disrupt their nervous system over long periods of time.

The effect on krogan soldiers was especially devastating as it mitigated their advantage in close quarter mobility – the dark channel would disrupt their coordination and slow down their movements.

In addition, the damaging field would automatically jump to other enemy soldiers after the first one was neutralized.

The field also allowed Syrila to _sense_ the positions of her targets, allowing her to line up her sniper shots more effectively.

Her skills proved invaluable while clearing the streets of Monoi.

Still, she definitely had also quite a few close calls and her new _shielded_ combat suit protected her from some potentially serious injuries.

Especially when krogan began to occasionally use the warp ammo – an ammunition modification where the projectile was incased in rapidly shifting mass effect fields intended for maximal damage against targets protected by biotic barriers.

It was a deadly weapon against the asari who usually relied on biotic barriers as their primary defense.

Fortunately, the krogan biotics, who were needed to generate and maintain the warp ammo, were still relatively rare.

"T'Vani…" a voice suddenly interrupted Syrila's musing.

The young ardat-yakshi raised her head to see her commander talking to her. A middle aged matron who, unlike rest of their unit composed of fresh recruits, have been a professional soldier for centuries.

"Yes?"

"When we get within two clicks of the city, I want you on the ground, shadowing us. Watch for any kind of ambush"

"Yes, lieutenant!" Syrila acknowledged the order.

The lieutenant then selected two other asari who were sitting next to Syrila.

"You two are with her"

Syrila looked around the transporter and at the other asari hudled closely within.

They were all heading to a small city in suburbs of Monoi. Given its position, the asari command believed that the krogan might try to use it as a base for any attempt to recapture the capital. Intelligence reports seemed to confirm that assessment.

Their orders were to prevent that. After so many of them bled for Monoi, they were not going to lose it again…

* * *

><p>Ten more minutes passed in the cramped and shaking transport before it stopped and the commander ushered Syrila's group out.<p>

Once they were on the ground, Syrila immediately assessed the situation.

The road towards the town continued in a straightforward fashion. On right side, there were fields of crop. On the left was a small hill with trees on top that extended towards the town.

After she gestured to her two companions, they all climbed the hill, assuming a vantage point on top of it.

Meanwhile, the large convoy of military vehicles resumed its motion towards their destination and Syrila and her team proceeded to shadow them as commanded.

The two asari accompanying her were about Syrila's age. One was a recruit from Thessia and had little fighting experience besides basic training. _**Linaea Diris**_ didn't want to be a soldier, but when her people were threatened like this, she felt called into the fight.

Syrila sighed. So far, the recruitment quotas for the war were being maintained with volunteers like this young woman… but everyone knew that that could not possibly last long and soon the draft would have to be implemented forcefully.

Especially if the conflict really escalated into a full galactic war like everyone tended to suspect.

The second one of her companions was a former member of Lusia's underground resistance movement that formed within hours of krogan invasion into the colony. Her name was _**Ornaka Paleas. **_

When the asari army arrived, the resistance fighters were absorbed into the regular military and many of them were now providing invaluable tactical advice to the asari command.

Just like the woman briskly walking on Syrila's right… she knew the capital and surrounding country very well, having lived in the area her entire live.

All three of them moved forward towards the city. Trying to stick to the cover provided by the trees, they carefully scanned the environment from the vantage point of the hill.

Linaea was securing their immediate surroundings while Syrila and Ornaka were watching the vicinity of the convoy.

The line of the vehicles was still moving on the way to the town.

The first sign of trouble was when Syrila spotted a dark dot on the sky seemingly coming in their general direction from directly ahead.

"4-7" she spoke into her radio the codename of her team. "I see a single incoming flyer on… eleven o'clock. Is it ours?" she asked, dreading the answer.

The dark dot changed its altitude and began to descent.

"Negative, 4-7… take cover" the lieutenant responded.

Syrila looked at her two teammates. None of them said a word as they all immediately rushed to hide in the vegetation.

The dark dot now took on an unmistakable profile of a standard krogan fighter as it descended toward them. She heard the lieutenant requesting an immediate air support through the radio even as it approached them.

The three asari were ready to deploy a biotic bubble to protect themselves, but predictably, the fighter went for the asari convoy.

They were momentarily deafened by the sound of anti-aircraft fire coming from the convoy. At the last second, this forced the enemy fighter to make an evasive maneuver and prevented them from opening fire.

Syrila breathed out as it passed them by without attacking, however their relief was brief since the fighter soon rapidly reversed its trajectory, coming for another pass.

"Shield, now!" Syrila cried and the three of them flared in blue, establishing a protective barrier around them. Vaguely, Syrila was aware of the asari from the convoy scrambling around and doing the same.

This time, the enemy fighter managed to directly strike at their vehicles before being driven away again.

"Damn it, where is that air support?!" Syrila thought, watching the projectiles hitting the biotic barriers generated by the asari from the convoy.

The enemy fighter was about to make another pass when a friendly fighter finally came from the capital, soaring over their heads, and engaging the krogan fighter.

They briefly watched the resulting dog fight before both fighters moved out of range.

Fortunately, the damage to the convoy was minimal and after everyone radioed in their status, they were ordered to move on.

Several more asari gunships soon appeared on the sky above them, just in case there were more krogan flyers incoming.

The rest of their journey was mercifully uneventful and in forty minutes, the convoy finally entered the town.

Syrila and her companions were about to head back to their unit when one of them stopped and indicated the others to take cover.

"I saw a movement, ma'am!" she told Syrila while inconspicuously pointing to an isolated house just outside the town.

"Shouldn't be civilians… this town is supposed to be completely evacuated" Syrila wondered as she brought up her omni-tool and detected several life signs coming from inside the house.

Unfortunately, not all asari civilians could be evacuated from the planet before the fighting started. However in case of this town, everyone was supposed to be gone already. Still, they could not take any chances.

The asari shook her head. "Looked like a krogan…"

Syrila frowned at that. "Alright, stand by…" she told them and radioed their status to the commander, explaining the situation in detail.

"Check it out, but proceed with caution… if they are civilians, they need to leave. _**Immediately**_" the lieutenant eventually ordered them and the three huntresses covertly approached the house.

It was a plain looking, one story building. Noting a second entrance, Syrila indicated Ornaka to go there while she and Linaea moved from the front.

Donning a pistol instead of sniper rifle, Syrila took cover by the door while her colleague moved to peek into the house windows… only to find herself staring directly into the eyes of equally surprised krogan standing on the other side of the window.

"Oh, goddess…" she gasped as she jumped away from the window and pointed her weapon at it.

Syrila needed no more as she quickly proceeded to smash the door open with her biotics and the two of them moved inside. Distantly, they heard Ornaka coming in through the other exit in different part of the house.

"In name of asari republics, everyone… freeze!" Syrila barked as they entered. No immediate attack came as they found themselves in a deserted hallway.

Then they heard heavy stomping from a nearby room disappearing somewhere further inside the house.

Syrila nodded to her partner and they barged inside that room.

A dining room. After quickly scanning it, they moved to the only other exit, which lead them to a kitchen… and there, they saw two asari – one adult and one infant child in her arms, huddling under the table and shaking with fear.

"_Most likely mother and daughter,"_ Syrila thought.

"Please, don't…" she began to say.

However, before either of them could communicate further, Syrila and Linaea snapped their head to the right as the krogan they saw earlier suddenly charged into the kitchen from a hiding place inside of large wooden pantry.

He roared as he ran against the huntresses, brandishing a huge knife above his head, ready to strike at them.

Without hesitation, Syrila thrust her hand in his direction.

The krogan growled as he found himself enveloped in blue light, violently smashed against the wall and finally put into a stasis field, all under three seconds of time.

Meanwhile, Linaea moved in to shield the family from possible firefight, despite their protests.

"Get them out of here!" Syrila ordered and waited until her comrade escorted both the woman and her now crying baby out, watching them slowly leave the kitchen.

Once they were gone, Syrila quickly assessed the situation. She looked at the weapon that the frozen krogan held.

Frowning, she thrust out her hand again and watched as the evil looking knife left his grasp and floated into Syrila's hand.

Normally, all weapons came integrated with a chip-sized mass effect disruptor that served to prevent a biotic enemy from snatching your weapon away… not this one.

It was an ordinary kitchen knife.

"_Please, don't…"_ she remembered the earlier words of the asari civilian and she understood what was probably going on.

She holstered her pistol before taking a syringe of her belt. Stepping closer to him, she jammed the needle into his thick neck.

The krogan gasped as he fell to the ground after Syrila released her biotics.

Syrila sighed as she looked at the snoring reptilian lying on the floor.

At that point, Ornaka came into the kitchen.

"The rest of the house is clear, Dalia" she told her while looking suspiciously at the sleeping krogan.

"Is he the only hostile?" she asked.

"Civilian…" Syrila responded. "Tried to attack me with a kitchen knife"

"Why is he still here? All krogan civilians were supposed to be gone from this town as a first thing" she pointed out.

"I don't know… I need to speak with his asari friend about that" Syrila said.

"Guard him for a moment… and cuff his hands, just to be safe. Can't tell how long the sedative will hold him" Syrila instructed her.

Ornaka nodded as she took the krogan sized handcuffs that all asari huntresses carried these days before fastening them onto the sleeping krogan.

Meanwhile Syrila went into the living room where the asari woman was earlier escorted and seated by Linaea. She was trying to calm her baby who was woken up by the commotion and crying loudly.

"What did you do to him? What do you want from us?" she asked Syrila fearfully when she saw the huntress entering the room.

"Everything will be alright ma'am, your krogan friend is only sedated" she tried to calm her.

"My name is Dalia T'Vani… and this is Linaea Diris" she gestured at the other huntress.

"Are you or your baby injured?" she asked cautiously.

"I am Tala…" the woman said with a shaky voice. "… and we are fine" she said as she looked her child over.

"We are terribly sorry for invading your home, _**Tala**_, but we saw your friend…" Syrila gestured to the kitchen, "… and we assumed he was hostile"

"He is my bondmate… and he did not join the _uprising_" she said while rocking her crying baby.

Syrila nodded. She assumed as much.

"Why did he try to attack us?" she asked.

The woman seemingly sank more into her chair. "We… we heard that the military was rounding up and arresting all krogans… sending them to labor camps… and all those who helped them" she eventually said in uneven voice.

"That's why you didn't evacuate with the others?" she asked and watched the woman slowly nod.

Internally, Syrila sighed sadly. The propaganda and rumor based information were already running rampant. And unfortunately, this was not the first time she encountered something like this.

Back at the Monoi, they were even attacked by a large group of krogan civilians who were, for a change, told that the asari were executing all krogan on sight…

Syrila then proceeded to explain to the woman what was **actually** going to happen.

Ever since the conflict started, if they so desired, the krogan in formal relationship with the asari citizens were automatically being evacuated together with the rest of the asari population of Lusia.

They were being resettled on Thessia and two other asari colonies. Entire cities were newly fabricated on Thessia for the influx of refugees from Lusia whose asari population amounted to nearly 400 milions.

Many krogan chose to leave for Thessia where, while under certain level of surveillance, they would be allowed to live with their family in peace.

Unfortunately, many also opted to stay behind and join the krogan invasion force. In some very rare cases, their asari bondmates would switch sides for them as well.

Additionally, the krogans who were not in relationship with the asari, but also did not want to fight against them were offered an evacuation onto a neutral planet.

And then there were straggles that simply refused to leave Lusia and their homes for a variety of reasons.

Regardless of their reasons, all krogans who refused to leave Lusia were to be automatically treated as hostile until proven otherwise.

It was harsh decision, but one that Syrila believed was necessary. In the middle of a fight, the asari forces could not possibly afford to differentiate, as even unarmed krogan civilians were potentially lethal given their great strength and speed.

In reality, the krogan snoring in the kitchen was very lucky. Had it been not Syrila but someone else who found him, he might have been dead now.

"Understand this, Tala… this town may soon become a battle field. For your own safety and that of your bondmate… of your child… you need to leave"

She told Linaea to call for a civilian evac immediately and to report the incident to the commander.

After her friend stepped outside to send the messages, Syrila looked back at Tala with concern.

By the way she clutched her baby, Syrila could tell that the poor frightened asari was close to a nervous breakdown.

Taking a quick look around to make sure they were alone, Syrila knelt in front of the seated woman.

She reached with her hand to stroke her cheek and just as she reached out physically, with her extremity, Syrila also reached out with her mind.

Calling on her ardat-yakshi power of mental domination, she attempted to calm the woman down.

"_Everything will be alright, Tala. You will stay strong for your family…"_

The effect on Tala was instantaneous. She stopped shaking and crying. Looking up at Syrila, she even smiled weakly as the ardat-yakshi gently wiped her tears away with her thumb.

Sensing her mother's calmness and soothed by Syrila's influence, the asari baby resting in her arms eventually stopped crying as well.

"_I will, thank you… Dalia._ _**Thank you**_" the woman said breathlessly. She was about to say more, but Syrila shushed her. Instead of listening, she let go of her mind and stood up, leaving the slightly dazed but also immensely calmer woman alone.

When Linaea came back in, she told her to wait with the woman, while Syrila stepped outside for a moment to get some fresh air.

It has been some time since the young ardat-yakshi dominated someone's mind like this.

When her mother deemed Syrila's control over her special powers sufficiently advanced, she insisted that her daughter trains herself in using them.

"_The goal is not to completely deny what you are, but to control it… to use your abilities for the greater good… and to stay safe" _her mother would tell her.

And so, after they were certain that her influence could be reversed, Syrila would train with the volunteers among the T'Soni acolytes.

She would try to dominate their minds while they tried to resist her.

Just as her mother warned her about, the greatest challenge was the _control_. Manipulating the mind in just the right way was very difficult.

Unless she utterly focused on what exactly she wanted them to think and do, Syrila's influence carried a risk of simply turning her victims into helpless puppets, no longer capable of independent thoughts… or, just the opposite would happen and she ended up doing to them nothing at all.

It took some time before she mastered it to the point where her _victims_ would obey her wishes exactly and without question.

Given her youth, Syrila would still be unable to dominate old and experienced asari – when told to implant a simple suggestion in her mother's mind, she failed miserably as the matriarch was able to resist her attempt with her sheer force of will.

Also, justicars would be capable to resist her. So would asari with special mind training – the T'Soni acolytes who possessed that particular training _**were**_, in fact, capable to resist her.

But all in all, Syrila knew that her powers afforded her control over significant portion of asari population.

It was at that time that she finally understood just what kind of fine line she would be forced to walk her entire life… and to think that her powers were only going to grow!

While she mastered her innate desire to meld with another, the desire to shape their minds… to enforce her will on them… this was entirely different matter and the temptation was always present.

She could very well use her powers for good, making the world a better place…

"_Give me an hour with the krogan leaders and this whole damn war would be over…"_ she thought.

But eventually, she understood that such ideas were ultimately self-defeating as they all led to _**selfishness**_… in her as well as in others.

She though of Tala and her child, who were waiting inside the house for their _evac_ to arrive.

Within seconds, her power prevented the young mother from hyperventilating and fainting.

But any longer, and she would have fallen under Syrila's control. She would no longer care about her krogan bondmate and their baby… even her own survival would stop being important. All she would want would be what Syrila would want. What Syrila desired.

"_Once everyone around you only cares about __**you**__, eventually, __**you**__ come to only care about __**yourself**__ as well"_ Laya's words on the subject echoed in her ears…

* * *

><p>After the evacuation transport finally arrived for the family, Syrila watched them board it. She even shared a few words with the krogan who attacked her earlier.<p>

For his own safety, Syrila had to insist that he remained cuffed during the transport until they reached an evacuation centre. Unfortunately, the tensions were high at the moment and a sight of unsecured krogan freely walking around could be too much for some of the huntresses.

Despite the incident, Syrila was very much impressed with his desire to protect his family and she told him so.

After the transport safely left, Syrila and her team walked deeper inside the town where the rest of their unit and several others were already hard at work, securing and fortifying the area against possible attack.

"What happened in the house… I hate it" Syrila was told by Ornaka as they walked to the town.

"Before this mess started, I had many krogan friends in Monoi…" she said sadly.

"Now they are trying to kill me and I am trying to kill them"

Syrila then asked her a question she has been wondering about for a while.

"You have a krogan name. Does this mean…?" she asked carefully.

The huntress named _Ornaka Paleas_ paused for a moment before nodding.

"It is as bad as it looks" she said sadly.

"Fortunately, both father and mother left for Thessia… but who knows whether their relationship survives this."

"We could not let them have this colony…" Linaea weighed in. "If we did, Thessia would have been next"

"You are both right…" Syrila offered.

"I think that we need to keep in mind that we did not start this war… all we can do is end it" she said resolutely after which she received enthusiastic nods.

* * *

><p><strong>Thessia, 2197 CE<strong>

After locking their weapons away, Shepard and Syrila were now walking away from the shooting range and back to the main house.

"The battle for Lusia ended within three months… soon after Overlord Kredak was killed aboard his flagship over Niagolon" Syrila continued her narrative.

"Although the krogan on Lusia surrendered, the fighting broke out all over the galaxy after that" she concluded.

Shepard listened with interest before asking a question.

"Did the krogan attack that town where you were stationed after Monoi?" the human spectre asked.

"Yes… within four days" Syrila confirmed. "They kept trying to take it from us for weeks before finally giving up…" she said.

"By the time it was over, the town was almost completely destroyed… and Tala's house bombed and burned to the ground"

"What about your friends?" Shepard asked, already dreading the answer.

Syrila looked to Thessia's horizon sadly.

"Linaea lived through, but afterwards we were assigned to different units and gradually lost contact."

"Ornaka… did not make it" she said and looked at Shepard.

"She was hit by multiple warp rounds… ripped right through her barriers"

"I am sorry…" Shepard said.

"Thank you… but at least I nailed the bastard who shot her. And later, the one who modded the ammo as well."

"Good," Shepard said simply.

After a moment of walking in silence, Syrila spoke.

"I want to thank you for asking me about this, Shepard," she told her with a smile. "I dealt with my war years a long time ago, but still, it feels good to tell it to someone…"

"Someone who was has been through same… and _**worse**_" she added.

"Anytime, Syrila" Shepard assured her while patting her on her shoulder. "Anytime…"

For the rest of the journey, they changed the topic and talked about Shepard's upcoming visit to the Citadel and other things.

Although a sense of melancholy from Syrila's narration was still hanging over their hands, it was soon to be dispersed by the sight before them.

When they were getting close to the main house, they saw two figures approaching them – one big and the other small… although Shepard could have sworn that she was getting taller every day.

Liara and little Benezia were walking towards them and as usual, smile plastered itself on Shepard's face at the sight of Benny who was holding her mother's hand while happily skipping on the road.

She briefly glanced at Syrila to see similar smile on her own face.

As they neared each other, Liara called to them. "So which of you two won today?" she asked, referring to their ongoing shooting competition.

Syrila and Shepard almost simultaneously blurted _"I did"_ before agreeing to make it a tie this time.

After that, Benny stole the attention as she let go of Liara's hand and ran towards the pair.

"Dad! Grandma!" she called as she came near them, only to jump into the arms of her father who caught her with practiced efficiency.

"Did you know that uncle Wrex and Garrus are here?" the child squeaked the news happily.

"Are they?" Shepard asked in an important voice. She glanced at her bondmate and got a confirmation nod from her.

"Well, we have to go meet them then. Thank you for telling us, Benny" she said to the smiling child.

When Liara joined them, she and Shepard shared a morning kiss even while their daughter, who was sandwiched between them, made an obligatory '_boo_' sound as she witnessed the gesture between her parents that she was _**not**_ a direct part in.

Shepard and Liara smiled and they both moved to kiss one of her cheeks in a big family hug.

Afterwards, they talked and laughed together as they walked to the house to great their guests.

All this time, Benny was enthusiastically running around, exploring their surroundings with the innocence of a child.

However, when they neared the house where the terrain was relatively flat, she came running to Syrila.

With the best puppy eyes that she was capable of, she then asked her aunt for something that made her parents honestly laugh.

"Grandma, please!" she pleaded.

Ever since Shepard's and Liara's daughter could speak and reason, she has been referring to Syrila as her _grandmother_. Her parents tried to explain to her that she was actually an aunt, but by that time, the child's mind was already set.

Eventually, they went along with it. After all, Syrila _**did**_ fulfill the role in the child's life that matriarch Benezia would have, had she lived to meet her first granddaughter.

Liara was quite certain that Benezia would not mind in the slightest…

"All right, little one" Syrila finally conceded. "You have to get your parents permission though" she told her which prompted Benny to bombard Shepard and Liara with an endless barrage of pleas.

"Only for few minutes this time…" Liara decided. "And I want you to stop if you get dizzy" she cautioned her daughter.

Benny immediately agreed and vaulted over to Syrila who crouched down a little to allow the young asari to climb on her back.

Benny put her hands around Syrila's neck and her feet around her midsection in a piggy back ride posture.

"Hold on tight" she cautioned the child before enveloping her in a mass effect field as additional security measure against falling.

"Ready?" she asked. "Ok, here we go"

Shepard and Liara watched as Syrila glowed in blue light as mass effect corridor formed in front of her and she charged… with Benny on her back.

They exited the charge about twenty meters ahead and Benny's laughter at doing what she considered the best fun in the world was now echoing above the T'Soni ancestral grounds.

Afterwards, Syrila kept charging around the area in a random pattern much to the child's amusement.

"Hard to tell who is enjoying it more…" an amused Shepard whispered to Liara.

The couple held hands as they walked, watching their daughter laughing frantically as she literally _flew_ around the grounds on Syrila's back.

"I am just glad that they are enjoying themselves… both of them" Liara answered.

"All the war, all the suffering… We lost so much, but seeing this… you, Benny… my family. It was all worth it. _**All of it**_" Liara said resolutely before stopping and looking into Shepard's eyes.

"I love you, Jane Shepard" she said gently.

"And I love you, Liara T'Soni" Shepard responded in equally gentle voice before pulling Liara close to her and kissing her passionately.

When they stopped and were about to resume their walk, Syrila and Benny charged right in front of them.

"Ah, don't you two want to stay with us for a moment?" Shepard said, slightly annoyed at being frightened by their sudden appearance.

Syrila and Benny said nothing and simply looked at her in the most painfully innocent way while trying not to burst out with laughter.

The ardat-yakshi briefly glanced behind at her grandniece and when she turned back at Shepard, she had a mischievous look.

"Only if you can catch us…" she said and in a blink of a blue light, they were gone again.

Shepard and Liara turned their heads as they laughed.

* * *

><p>When they arrived at the house, Benny's energy was not diminished in the slightest and the first thing she did was run upstairs and bolt into her bedroom.<p>

No doubt the child was eager to show off some of her new toys to Garrus and Wrex.

Shepard went after her while Liara and Syrila walked into the lounge to great their guests.

When they walked inside, they found Garrus sitting in a chair, reading something on his omni-tool.

Meanwhile Wrex was standing nearby and deeply immersed in conversation with the head of T'Soni household guards – _**Shiala**_.

He was pacing around and wildly gesturing with his hands, no doubt telling Shiala one of his combat stories while the commando eargerly listened.

They all stopped when Liara and Syrila walked in.

"Doesn't look anything like Benezia" Wrex said his first thought out loud as soon as he saw Syrila for the first time.

"You only saw my mother _after_ indoctrination marred her appearance, Wrex…" Liara rolled her eyes.

Ignoring his friends outburst, Garrus was first to greet them as he jumped up to his feet.

"Liara, it is good to see you…" he told her in honest voice as he pulled her in for a quick hug.

He asked where Shepard was and Liara had to explain to him that her bondmate went to make sure that their daughter did not pass out from sheer excitement she had this morning.

After he laughed at Liara's comment he moved to Syrila.

"Matriarch Syrila… I heard a lot about you. It is a pleasure to meet you" he said while fisting his right hand and pressing it to his chest in a turian military salute.

"Likewise… and it is just _Syrila_ for you, Mr. Vakarian" she told him.

"Garrus" he insisted in return.

Afterwards, it was Wrex's turn and after he nearly crushed Liara in his signature bear hug, he moved on to Syrila.

Now, among krogans, a friendly greeting would usually consist of head-butting their foreheads together.

However, ever since meeting the _squishy_ aliens, the krogan had to adopt a different, softer approach – he put his hands on Syrila's arms while the asari did the same and they lightly pressed their foreheads together… no bumping involved.

"It is honor to meet Liara's relative…" he began to say but then something changed.

Wrex's gaze went wide as he looked straight into Syrila's eyes. He then literally _sniffed _the air near Syrila much to everyone's confusion.

After that, Liara saw an uncharacteristically murderous expression appear on his face that somehow set fear into her heart.

When Wrex spoke next, he said only a single word.

However, that word was soaked in such a huge amount of raw anger that Liara could not believe that the old krogan battlemaster would even be capable of it… but here he was, staring straight at Syrila with death in his eyes as he spoke.

"_**You…"**_


	6. Asteroid R47 - part I

**Thessia, 2197 CE**

Physically attacking a family member inside the T'Soni mansion was foolish at best and suicidal at worst. Not only were the T'Soni women exceptionally powerful by themselves; they also had a platoon sized unit of asari commandos at their disposal.

Additionally, after Liara T'Soni and her people discovered the cure for the ardat-yakshi condition, many of its former victims opted to join the T'Soni household guards. Since then, Liara had some of the most powerful biotics in the galaxy at her command.

Visitors to the mansion rarely realized that they were constantly under the watchful eye of these guardians.

Of course, the trusted friends of the family like Urdnot Wrex and Garrus Vakarian were considered as another charges to protect rather than potential enemy, but still… trying to stir up trouble was still an insane endeavor.

Fortunately for him, Urdnot Wrex was neither a fool nor a madman and while Liara could have sworn he was about to attack Syrila, he didn't.

Instead he glared at her rather evilly before looking over at Liara.

"_**This**_ is your aunt?" he barked out the question in unbelieving voice.

Liara was not certain, but she thought that she heard a hint of genuine pride in his voice under all the anger and confusion.

"She is" Liara nodded, moving to stand closer to Syrila in a protective gesture. Not that the matriarch needed her protection… not even from Wrex.

The krogan flit his gaze between Liara and Syrila for a moment, evidently unsure on how to react.

"Hah, figures!" he eventually growled… and then he began laughing.

The murderous anger he displayed only a minute ago was seemingly gone as he laughed for nearly twenty seconds.

The others were looking at him incredulously.

Afterwards, he stepped away from Syrila and started pacing across the room while mumbling quietly.

Liara and Garrus started asking him what was going on but Wrex did not answer… not until Syrila herself spoke.

"Wrex… have we met before?" the matriarch asked uncertainly. "I don't remember you…"

Wrex stopped pacing and looked at her, considering her words.

"No, I suppose you don't…" he eventually decided to believe her.

"At first I didn't recognize you either… not until I sensed your scent"

"You look very different. We both do… but I know it's _**you**_"

"Where…?" she began to ask.

"We have met… during the _expansion war_" he immediately supplied the answer.

_**Expansion war**_ was how krogans usually referred to the krogan rebellions and it was an answer that Liara dreaded.

It meant that they most likely met on opposite sides of a rifle…

Syrila frowned. "I have met thousands of krogans back then, Wrex… many of them didn't survive our meeting"

Wrex huffed. "Ok, now I feel insulted!" he cried out but it was without the malice he displayed earlier.

"I have met thousands of you squishy aliens as well… but I sure as hell remember _**you**_" he told her with a mock hurt.

"I even tried looking for you after the war… _**Dalia T'Vani**_" he suddenly mentioned Syrila's fake name from the war.

This piqued the matriarch's interest. She took great pride in her various secret identities that she assumed during her life.

After getting to know her aunt over the last few years, Liara learned to read her facial expressions very well and right now, Syrila was desperately trying to remember the time and place that she met Wrex…

An event apparently so significant to the krogan battlemaster that he went through the trouble of retrieving her name.

"I found out that you were promoted… and I was _very_ angry to discover that you apparently died in an accident shortly after the war ended"

"I take it the story of your death was just as fake as your name?" he asked her to which the matriarch simply nodded.

Syrila was visibly anxious now. "Where did we meet?" she quickly asked.

Wrex grinned at her before pointing to his face. Specifically, to the horrible scars and cracks that covered his head plate and his throat all the way down to his neck.

"You don't recognize your _handiwork_?" he asked her, trailing the old wounds with his hand.

Liara always wondered where Wrex got his facial scars. She was actually surprised that he never told a story about them. She even remembered someone on the Normandy asking him about it once and Wrex deflecting the question.

Come to think of it, Wrex never talked about the rebellions that much either…

Wherever he got the scars, Liara knew that the injuries that caused them must have been life threatening, even for a krogan… _"Syrila did that?"_ she though.

Syrila looked at Wrex very carefully, sizing him up before her eyes went wide with recognition.

"Where did we meet?" she breathlessly repeated her question as she instinctively took a step backwards and Liara wrapped her hand around her waist to steady her.

Liara could see a spark of familiarity on her aunt's face as she looked at Wrex, but at the same time it was clear that the matriarch could not quite put her finger on it.

Wrex shrugged before answering her.

"Asari used to call it _**Asteroid R47**_"

"R47…" Syrila numbly repeated as the world seemed to spin around her and she finally remembered who Wrex was.

She hadn't thought about Asteroid R47 in years.

The mission to R47 started to replay itself in her head and she heard the explosions again…

* * *

><p><strong>Silean Nebula, 1307 CE<strong>

There are only two things in the Milky Way Galaxy that are rare enough to be considered _extremely precious_ by its inhabitants – garden worlds and element zero.

But while terraforming and artificial habitats are always a possibility, element zero cannot be artificially fabricated and its natural deposits in the galaxy are therefore finite.

Commonly called _eezo_, the element is created out of ordinary matter during high-energy astronomical events – typically when a star goes supernova and afterwards collapses into a neutron star or a black hole.

Those are the practical observations, but the truth is, that nobody really understands the exact physical process behind eezo formation.

All laboratory attempts to synthetize it have failed and all standard theoretical models predict that its existence is simply _impossible_.

The leading hypothesis is that the high-energy events of supernova warp surrounding spacetime to such a huge degree that _entirely new_ set of physical laws temporarily apply in the area, essentially creating a pocket of another universe.

These temporary physical laws then allow the formation of stable eezo, even though the process would be impossible in normal space time.

This hypothesis is further evidenced by the composition of the eezo itself.

During the numerous attempts to synthetize the element, it was discovered that it does not contain any protons, electrons or charged particles of any kind.

Not only being neutral in charge, its composing particles entirely lack _**any**_ concept of charge at all, making their existence anomalous in context of our universe.

Thus, when element zero is forcibly subjected to an external charge in form of an electrical current, spacetime anomalies are produced as a result.

It is those spacetime anomalies that make eezo so invaluable to all spacefaring races. They allow use of almost all advanced technologies, most significantly the faster-than-light travel.

A steady source of element zero is therefore one of the most significant strategy goals for any species.

The fact that everyone _always_ wanted more eezo was one of the reasons why asari were the most powerful species in the galaxy.

Thessia is the only homeworld in the galaxy with natural deposits of element zero. More than that, the amount of it is staggering.

Having the much needed resource directly on their world served as great technological boost in the early days of asari space program. It also started a new industry revolution on their planet that briefly clogged the pristine environment with pollution.

However, soon after they started exploring the galaxy, the asari realized just how precious and unique their home is and took steps to preserve its beauty for the future generations.

Mining of eezo was virtually prohibited on Thessia and its vast riches were declared a heritage for all asari. Very tight production quotas were imposed.

Afterwards, the asari only mined the element on other planets and asteroids.

In the future, asari corporations became the absolute lead in any kind of eezo related operations.

On occasion, some alien ventures would try to challenge this status and aggressively depose the ruling asari.

However, in that case, the asari simply temporarily loosened the quotas on Thessia, thus drastically lowering the price of eezo and quickly driving their aspiring competition out of business.

It was primarily because of these frequent "eezo wars" that Citadel Council adopted the _Unified Banking Act _that established the credit as the galactic currency. The credit was made to be partially exchangeable with element zero.

It needs to be said that asari did not simply abuse the happenstances of the vast eezo deposits on Thessia.

Inspired by their own biology, they also developed and mastered the _refinement_ of eezo.

Without refinement, eezo was largely worthless – when improperly purified eezo was exposed to electrical current, the results were often catastrophic.

Regardless of the species, everyone in the galaxy knew that if they wanted absolutely pure eezo, asari were the ones to go to….

* * *

><p>Because of the constant need for it, looking for new deposits of element zero (eezo prospecting) became a job for great many people in the galactic history.<p>

And yet… one of the greatest discoveries in history was made completely accidentally.

In _**1233 CE, **_a small team of asari scientists was studying moons of Sangel – the outermost planet in the elcor home system.

At one point during the studies, their ship's sensors picked up very faint light source passing through the outer edge of the system's equivalent of the Oort cloud.

At first, it was ignored but the sensors noted a strangely irregular pattern in its movements.

Eventually, the asari decided to investigate.

Using FTL drive, they arrived at the object. At first they thought it was standard rogue comet, but very soon, they discovered the reason for the irregular movement…

On the outside, the object was a normal looking asteroid composed of rocks and ice.

However, inside, about 150 meters under the surface, the asteroid had a huge eezo nugget as a core!

After the initial shock wore off, they conducted extensive analyses.

They determined that the chunk of eezo must have been thrown out during some ancient supernova explosion. It was then travelling the vastness of space for untold eons and gradually accumulated dust and water, giving it its asteroid-like appearance.

Its irregular trajectory was caused by the rock shell pressing on the eezo core, creating a weak piezoelectric effect in the entire structure.

Aside from its trajectory, the randomly occurring mass effect fields were also significantly increasing the surface gravity, making it much higher than what would be normal for object of this size.

After completing the study, the asari could not believe how incredibly lucky they were. It was practically impossible to detect cold object in space and the asteroid had no source of radiation.

The only reason they were able to detect it at all was its relative proximity to the Phontes star which melted down and vaporized some of the surface gasses, making it briefly visible.

Given the "finders keepers" rule for objects discovered in unclaimed interstellar space, the asari scientists who discovered it suddenly became very wealthy.

After filing the find with proper authorities, they immediately sold the rights for mining operations to several Thessian companies.

Knowing that the trajectory of the asteroid would sooner or later take it very far away from the star cluster's mass relay, an unprecedented rush to exploit it immediately followed.

Named _**asteroid R47**_, the serendipitous discovery quickly became a highly sought price.

Its discovery, and the resulting _eezo_ _rush_, also greatly contributed to the development of nearby Elcor homeworld – _**Dekuuna**_. By the increased traffic alone, the formerly completely backwater planet and its reclusive inhabitants became a true part of galactic community.

And although they were not required to do so, the asari corporations agreed to donate twenty percent of all profits from the asteroid R47 operations to the elcor.

After all, it was only because of invitation from the elcor government that the asari science team was in the system in the first place…

For decades, intensive mining proceeded uninterrupted. However, everything changed when the Krogan rebellions started.

With Thessia being out of their reach, at least for the moment, the krogan had to look for alternative sources of eezo. Their explorers would even travel Attican traverse, often retrieving the element from the many prothean ruins located there, damaging them in the process.

The Omega station was once again reactivated and populated at that time as well.

As for the Asteroid R47, suddenly it became a significant security liability as the council could not afford to have it fall into the enemy's hand and at the same time, defending a single object in interstellar space was difficult at best.

Shortly after the war started, the mining operations were suspended and the remaining equipment mothballed.

By the time of the rebellions, the R47 was a completely cold object and therefore, a single automated beacon was placed on the asteroid that would allow it to be located once the war was over.

In 1307 CE, a beacon on R47 unexpectedly became active…

* * *

><p>Since there was already an investigation of possible enemy espionage in the Thessian department of mining operations, the asari intelligence immediately suspected what occurred.<p>

When spy drones reported a krogan troop ship entering Silean Nebula and heading in the direction of R47, they were certain.

The asari knew that they had to act fast. Once the krogan reached the asteroid, they could destroy the locator beacon and nobody except them would be able to find the place ever again.

An asari strike unit that was closest to the location and ready to move in was immediately ordered to intercept the krogan at R47.

Flying in as fast as it could, the asari ship nearly blew up its engines as it FTL raced from the cluster mass relay all the way to the R47.

They only barely reached the asteroid when the signal from the beacon finally went dead when the krogan destroyed it as predicted.

Ordered to prevent the krogan from taking R47, they landed on the asteroid. Their forces included about fifty asari commandos along with five salarian engineers.

Facing them was a roughly equal number of krogans. Not having expected the council to attack so fast, their initial response was showing signs of surprise, but they soon buckled down and fought back hard.

At the peak of the mining operations, there were close to a thousand people living on the asteroid. As a result, habitats and other support facilities were built for them on the surface…

Needless to say that most of them were no longer standing after the first day of battle as both sides tried to blitzkrieg each other and gain control of the entire rock.

With the asteroid positional beacon destroyed, neither the asari nor the krogan could expect any reinforcements or extraction and they knew it.

Jamming each other's ships communications, they could not even call for help that way… and of course, afterwards it no longer mattered as both of their ships ended up destroyed and crushed on the asteroid's surface.

With their ships destroyed and practically all of the surface habitats rendered inhabitable, both sides retreated underground inside the extensive system of mining tunnels.

Once there, they continued a battle of attrition for weeks…

* * *

><p>Two asari, judging by the pins on their uniform – a captain and a lieutenant – were standing in a makeshift headquarters inside an old mining tunnel.<p>

The two datapads they were both holding in their hands contained list of supplies and an incomplete map of the tunnel network respectively.

They were looking grimly as they read the data and considered their options.

"This is not good, _Dalia_" the captain told to her lieutenant as she inspected the supply manifest.

_Syrila T'Soni_ barely glanced her way before she resumed her own study of the map, trying to come up with some new plan to get them out of their unenviable situation.

However, when they saw a group of huntresses approaching them from the entrance into the tunnel, they placed the pads away and tried to put up a more optimistic expression for the sake of their troops.

"Report" the captain said to one of the asari.

"Ma'am" she automatically saluted to both of them before continuing. "We captured one of the enemy scouts"

The captain smiled. "Excellent…" Syrila smiled as well.

The krogan had been regularly testing their defenses and looking for a ways to attack but this was a first time the asari managed to take one of them prisoner.

The captain then noticed the sad and downcast expression on the asari's face. "Is that all?" she asked.

"There was a cave-in…" she said with voice full of pain.

"Huntress Alequa did not survive."

The captain's hands jerked into a fist and she unintentionally flared her biotics in anger before that anger was replaced by melancholy. "I see…" she said, staring ahead of herself numbly.

"This is bullshit, ma'am!" the asari standing next to the one giving report called out. "We cannot go on like this and expect to survive!" she protested.

One of Alequa's close friends, Syrila noted.

Her comrades tried to calm her with words of encouragement, but she would not listen to them. "Tell that to Alequa, she is dead because of you!" she cried out to her superiors.

"That's enough!" Syrila, who was so far standing next to her captain and listening quietly, spoke. "You have made your point, _Tara_, now… go rest for a while" she seemingly told her while looking more at her comrades.

Nothing else that she could tell her right now would make the poor asari feel any better and Syrila knew it.

Her friends nodded and proceeded to escort the heartbroken asari away.

The two asari officers were once again alone.

"You know that she is right, _Dalia_…" the captain spoke after a moment of silence.

Her lieutenant, whose name was not really Dalia, looked at her.

"She and Alequa were friends for a long time…" Syrila tried to rationalize the earlier outburst of one of the women under her command.

"That's not what I mean… she is right in _that we cannot go on like this_"

Syrila nodded. They had water and food rations for another month and that was it… and that's assuming that the life support systems were going to last that long and they were not going to suffocate.

Obviously, the mining tunnels on R47 were not designed for military engagements and as a result, they lost almost as many soldiers to the failing infrastructure as to the enemy fire.

Of course, the krogan were not faring any better in that regard.

Both sides dug themselves in different parts of the tunnel system, intending to starve the other side out.

The problem was that their team no longer had enough functioning equipment to attempt construction of another communication beacon that would allow them to call for reinforcements.

And, considering the facts, it was clear that the krogans could not build one either.

Without the communication beacon, nobody would even be able to _locate_ the Asteroid R47, much less render assistance…

"If we cannot signal for help or extraction, this mission will be pointless anyway" the captain continued, vocalizing Syrila's dark thoughts.

"If we could get into the krogan camp… take whatever equipment they have… then _maybe_ we could build the beacon" Syrila mused.

The captain shook her head.

"No… whatever they might have on their hands, they would rather destroy it then let us take it from them" she told her before smiling weakly.

"After all, that's what we would do as well" she told Syrila, referring to their own equipment and supplies.

"The way I see it, there is only one option that results in our survival" she said and began to explain her plan to her subordinate.

Syrila was silent as she listened to her.

"I don't like it…" she told her afterwards.

"But I also don't see us having any alternative… do you think that they'll agree to this?"

The captain shrugged. "Only one way to find out… let's go talk to our _guest_"

* * *

><p>The two asari officers arrived at a make shift holding cells made out of old storage rooms.<p>

So far, they had only one occupant – a krogan scout captured this morning. He was trying to find an unguarded route into the asari section of the tunnels, but their patrol spotted him and managed to subdue him.

The two asari guarding him saluted as Syrila and the captain approached.

The captain indicated to them to open the cell and they did, readying their biotics to freeze the krogan should the need arise. However, as soon as the cell was opened, the captain dismissed the two guards.

The krogan scout was sitting cross-legged on the floor as the door to his improvised prison opened. He stood up when he saw them walk in.

Syrila noted that despite looking at them with unconcealed fury, he did not make any aggressive move against them.

"_Smart boy,_" she thought.

His eyes immediately settled on the asari captain even before she spoke.

"I am captain _Aleya T'Losi_" she told him.

He looked disinterested as he spoke.

"Personal number 48A74-alpha-G5" he rumbled in deep voice characteristic of his species.

According to the Citadel conventions, the enemy combatant had to provide unambiguous identification of his person upon capture.

For asari soldiers, this included their name and rank. However, the krogan considered their alien enemies unworthy of speaking their names and so they usually provided service numbers only.

"We are not here to interrogate you" captain T'Losi told him.

He looked at her in surprise but said nothing.

"In fact, I am prepared to let you go… with a message to be taken to your leader"

"Message? What message?" he asked in confusion, his big eyes darting between the two asari.

"Tell him that I invite him to a Crush"


End file.
